Welfare costs of inflation using frictional unemployment in Iran:General Equilibrium Model approach

The objective of this paper is to examine the welfare cost of inflation in the context of Iran's economy, incorporating labor market frictions (search theory) within a monetary general equilibrium model. The model also features a cash-in-advance constraint. To achieve this goal, through the utilization of calibration and sensitivity analysis in the steady state, the findings indicate that both employment and production are contingent on the elasticity of labor supply and the elasticity of vacancies in job matches. Depending on these two parameters, they may exhibit an increase in response to an escalation in the inflation rate. Additionally, the three-month optimal inflation rate in a stable state is determined to be 4.66%. The welfare gains, derived from reducing the three-month inflation rate from its current level of 5.3% to the optimal rate in a steady state, is calculated to be 0.0031% of total consumption. Therefore, based on the results, it is suggested that in inflation reduction policies, the effects of this reduction on welfare are taken into consideration, and special attention should be paid to the area of business investment by giving tax incentives, especially tax credits.