Dimitry Rtischev (Gakushuin University, Tokyo and University of Trento, Italy) will talk on “Dissipation of productivity gains through socioeconomic competition: Comparing inflationary consequences of wage hikes and income grants” in an SPS-BEHAVE Seminar on 3 March 2020, 12.30-14.30 at the Seminar Room of the Deparment of Social and Political Sciences, University of Milan. Discussant: Prof. Gabriele Ballarino, University of Milan.
This is the abstract of the paper: After centuries of growth in productivity and wages, why is the median household still working long hours to afford housing, education, and other goods? Do rising incomes cause inflation which keeps some goods forever expensive? I pursue these questions using an analytical model in which working time, wages and prices adjust endogenously and in which working consumers compete for socially-scarce goods. In particular, I model and simulate an increasingly productive society of heterogeneous agents who form “clubs” (e.g., neighborhoods, schools, workplaces) and spend part of their income bidding to join the “better” ones. I examine the extent to which productivity gains, paid out either through higher wages or income grants, get absorbed into club prices.