Thirteenth Annual Conference on Macroeconomics.

• Position: Of the National Bureau of Economic Research

Nearly 75 researchers convened in Cambridge on April 3-4 for the NBER's Thirteenth Annual Conference on Macroeconomics. As in recent years, this conference was organized by Ben S. Bernanke, NBER and Princeton University, and Julio J. Rotemberg, NBER and Harvard University. The following papers were presented and discussed:

John Shea, NBER and Princeton University, "What Do Technology Shocks Do?"

Discussants: Jordi Gali, NBER and New York University, and Adam B. Jaffe, NBER and Brandeis University

Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, Stanford University, "Exchange Rates, Job Creation and Destruction"

Discussants: David Backus, NBER and New York University, and Russell Cooper, NBER and Boston University

Casey Mulligan, NBER and University of Chicago, "Substitution over Time: Another Look at the Life Cycle Labor Supply"

Discussants: Robert E. Hall, NBER and Stanford University, and Jorn-Steffen Pischke, NBER and University of Chicago

Robert Shimer, Princeton University, "Why is the U.S. Unemployment Rate So Much Lower?" Discussants: Richard Rogerson, University of Pennsylvania, and Robert H. Topel, NBER and University of Chicago Simon Gilchrist, NBER and Boston University, and Charles Himmelberg, Columbia University, "Investment, Fundamentals, and Finance"

Discussants: David Gross, University of Chicago, and Kenneth D. West, NBER and University of Wisconsin

John H. Cochrane, NBER and University of Chicago, "A Cashless View of U.S. Inflation"

Discussants: Henning Bohn, University of California, Santa Barbara, and Michael Woodford, NBER and Princeton University

Shea investigates the dynamic interactions of inputs, productivity, and technological indicators, such as R and D and patents, using annual panel data on 19 U.S. manufacturing industries from 1959-91. He finds that favorable technology shocks tend to increase inputs, especially labor, in the short run, but tend to decrease inputs in the long run. Favorable technology shocks do not increase measured total factor productivity at any horizon. Technology shocks contribute little to industry-level volatility at short- and medium-run horizons but are more important at longer-run horizons.

Gourinchas evaluates the importance of exchange rate movements on factor reallocation across and within sectors. He seeks to provide accurate estimates of the impact of exchange rate fluctuations and to further our understanding of how reallocative shocks propagate through the economy. He finds that exchange rates have...