TY  - JOUR
AU  - Debelle,Guy
AU  - Lamont,Owen
TI  - Relative Price Variability and Inflation: Evidence from US Cities
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 5627
PY  - 1996
Y2  - June 1996
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w5627
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w5627.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Guy Debelle
Financial Markets Group
Reserve Bank of Australia
GPO Box 3947
Sydney NSW 2001
AUSTRALIA
Tel: 01161295518200
Fax: 01161295518034
E-Mail: debelleg@rba.gov.au

Owen Lamont
Department of Economics
Harvard University
Cambridge MA 02138
E-Mail: owen.lamont@yale.edu
AB  - We test whether the time-series positive correlation of inflation and intermarket relative price variability is also present in a cross-section of US cities.  We find this correlation to be a robust empirical regularity:  cities which have higher than average inflation also have higher than average relative price dispersion, ceteris paribus.  This result holds for different periods of time, different classes of goods, and across different time horizons.  Our results suggest that at least part of the relationship between inflation and relative price variability cannot be explained by monetary factors.
ER  -