Les Ajustements Individuels De Prix À La Consommation En France: De Nouveaux Résultats Sur La Période 2003-2011 (Individual Consumer Price Adjustments in France: New Results on 2003-2011 Period)

Abstract

Using micro price data covering the Great Recession period, we investigate new patterns of price rigidity for France. Even after taking into account sales and replacements, price are more rigid than in the United States. The frequency of price changes lies between 15% to 19.3% whereas this frequency is between 21% and 27% in the United States. The size of price changes remain large even controlling for sales. The distribution of price changes is dispersed with a lot of large and very small price changes. We also find that sales have a large contribution to the volatility of monthly inflation, whereas replacements have a positive impact on inflation. Finally, January effects on the level of inflation are substantial. In this paper, we also document facts on price rigidity during the Great Recession: the patterns of price adjustment were slightly modified and the small increase in the frequency, average and dispersion of price changes seem to reflect a larger volatility of shocks.