Price elasticities and demand-side real rigidities in micro data and in macro models

High degrees of demand-side real rigidities are able to generate the large monetary non-neutrality found in aggregate data. This paper provides micro-based evidence on the key parameters governing this rigidity using European homescan data. We find strong evidence for demand-side real rigidity, which is, however, significantly lower than that normally assumed in macro models. In a menu-cost model calibrated to our estimates, we show that these estimates are associated with reasonable values for production-side parameters, but they are not able to generate the degree of monetary non-neutrality observed in macro data.