PRICE DISPERSION, INFLATION, AND WELFARE*
研究货币搜寻经济中通货膨胀对价格离散和福利的影响，发现通胀上升会加剧价格离散和实际价格，而接近弗里德曼规则时两者消失；若家庭可自主选择观察价格数量，最优通胀率可能高于弗里德曼规则，因为通胀能促进搜寻并削弱市场势力从而提高福利。
We examine the implications of inflation for both price dispersion and welfare in a monetary search economy. In our economy, if the degree of buyers' incomplete information about prices is fixed, both price dispersion and real prices are increasing in inflation. As the inflation rate approaches the Friedman rule, both price dispersion and welfare losses vanish. If households choose the number of prices to observe, then the optimal inflation rate may exceed the Friedman rule as inflation induces search and, up to a point, raises welfare by eroding market power.