Inflation and Stock Prices: No Illusion

Abstract

Campbell and Vuolteenaho (2004) use VAR results to advocate inflation illusion as the explanation for the positive association between inflation and dividend yields. Using a structural approach, we find that a fully rational dynamic general equilibrium model can generate a positive correlation between dividend yields and inflation as observed in the data. The paper describes a channel by which the technology shock moves both inflation and dividend yields in the same direction, resulting in a positive correlation between the two. © 2010 The Ohio State University.