Andres Blanco
Assistant Professor of Economics, University of Michigan
Office: Lorch Hall 308, 611 Tappan Street, Ann Arbor, Mi 48109, USA
Phone: 734-764-2917
Email: jablanco@umich.edu
I am a macroeconomist working on the aggregate implications of frictions at the micro-level. My research agenda aims to answer policy-relevant questions by providing measurements of new facts, developing theories, and testing their quantitative relevance. I study: (i) the role of price-setting for inflation dynamics and monetary policy, (ii) the role of inflation in labor markets, and (iii) the role of investment frictions for aggregate capital dynamics and macroeconomic outcomes.
Working papers
Nominal Devaluations, Inflation, and Inequality (with Andres Drenik and Emilio Zaratiegui)
We study the distribution of labor income during large devaluations. Across countries, inequality falls after large devaluations within the context of a surge of inflation. Using a noble administrative dataset covering the 2002 Argentinean devaluation, we show how labor mobility and lack of union coverage of high-income workers account for the drop in inequality.
The Macroeconomics of Partial Irreversibility (with Isaac Baley)
We investigate the macroeconomic effects of partially irreversible investment arising from a wedge between the buying and selling price of capital and apply the theory to study corporate tax reforms. Corporate income tax cuts improve the allocation of capital, decrease aggregate Tobin's q, and slow down capital fluctuations.
A Theory of Labor Markets with Allocative Wages (with Andres Drenik, Christian Moser, and Emilio Zaratiegui)
We develop a model of a frictional labor market with idiosyncratic and aggregate shocks, sticky wages, and two-sided lack of commitment between workers and firms. In this environment, wages are allocative. We analytically characterize equilibrium policies and provide sufficient statistics for the prevalence of inefficient job separations and as well as labor market response to monetary shocks.
Peer-Reviewed Publications
Firm Uncertainty Cycles and the Propagation of Nominal Shocks (with Isaac Baley).
American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics (Vol. 11, No. 1, Jan 2019, pp. 276-337)
Price Rigidity and the Relative PPP (with Javier Cravino).
Journal of Monetary Economics (Vol. 116, Dec 2020, pp. 104-116)
Optimal Inflation Target in an Economy with Menu Cost and Zero Lower Bound.
American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics (Vol. 13, No. 3, July 2021, pp. 108-141)
Aggregate Dynamics in Lumpy Economies (with Isaac Baley)
Econometrica (Vol. 89, No. 3, May 2021, pp. 1235-1264)
The Evolution of the Earnings Distribution in a Volatile Economy: Evidence from Argentina (with Andres Drenik, Christian Moser, Bernardo Diaz de Astarloa, and Danilo Trupkin)
Quantitative Economics (Forthcoming)