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Quantifying Confidence
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Quantifying Confidence

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  • Dellas, Harris
  • Collard, Fabrice
  • Angeletos, George-Marios

Abstract

We enrich workhorse macroeconomic models with a mechanism that proxies strategic uncertainty and that manifests itself as waves of optimism and pessimism about the short-term economic outlook. We interpret this mechanism as variation in "confidence" and show that it helps account for many salient features of the data; it drives a significant fraction of the volatility in estimated models that allow for multiple structural shocks; it captures a type of fluctuations in "aggregate demand" that does not rest on nominal rigidities; and it calls into question existing interpretations of the observed recessions. We complement these findings with evidence that most of the business cycle in the data is captured by an empirical factor which is unlike certain structural forces that are popular in the literature but similar to the one we formalize here.

Suggested Citation

  • Dellas, Harris & Collard, Fabrice & Angeletos, George-Marios, 2015. "Quantifying Confidence," CEPR Discussion Papers 10463, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:10463
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Business cycles; Strategic uncertainty; Higher-order beliefs; Confidence; Aggregate demand; Coordination failure; Dsge models;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles

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