Sticky is a term used in the social sciences and particularly economics to describe a situation in which a variable is resistant to change. Economics is the social science that studies the production distribution, and consumption of goods and services. For example, nominal wages are often said to be sticky. Market forces may reduce the real value of labour in an industry, but wages will tend to remain at previous levels. This can be due to institutional factors such as price regulations, legal contractual commitments (e. g. office leases and employment contracts), labour unions, human stubbornness, or self-interest. Stickiness normally applies in one direction. For example, a variable that is "sticky downward" will be reluctant to drop even if conditions dictate that it should.
Economists tend to cite four possible causes of price stickiness: menu costs, money illusion, imperfect information with regards to price changes, and fairness concerns. In Economics, menu costs are the costs to firms of updating menus price lists brochures and other materials when prices change in an economy Money illusion refers to the tendency of people to think of currency in nominal rather than real, terms Perfect information is a term used in Economics and Game theory to describe a state of complete knowledge about the actions of other players that is instantaneously Robert Hall cites incentive and cost barriers on the part of firms to help explain stickiness in wages. Robert Ernest "Bob" Hall (1943 is an American Economist at Stanford University with a wide variety of interests In Economics, an incentive is any factor (financial or non-financial that provides a motive for a particular course of action or counts as a reason for preferring one choice
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Examples of stickiness
Many firms, during recessions, lay off workers. A recession is a contraction phase of the Business cycle. The U Layoff is the temporary suspension or permanent Termination of employment of an Employee or (more commonly a group of employees for Business reasons Yet many of these same firms are reluctant to begin hiring, even as the economic situation improves. This can result in slow job growth during a recovery.
Wages, prices, and employment levels can all be sticky. Normally, a variable oscillates according to changing market conditions, but when stickiness enters the system, oscillations in one direction are favored over the other, and the variable exhibits "creep"-- it gradually moves in one direction or another. This is also called the "ratchet effect". Over time a variable will have ratcheted in one direction.
For example, in the absence of competition, firms rarely lower prices, even when production costs decrease (i. Competition is a rivalry between individuals groups nations or animals for territory or resources e. supply increases) or demand drops. Instead, when production becomes cheaper, firms take the difference as profit, and when demand decreases they are more likely to hold prices constant, while cutting production, than to lower them. Therefore, prices are sometimes observed to be sticky downward, and the net result is one kind of inflation. In economics inflation or price inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services over a period of time
Prices in an oligopoly can often be considered sticky-upward. An oligopoly is a Market form in which a Market or Industry is dominated by a small number of sellers (oligopolists The kinked demand curve, resulting in elastic price elasticity of demand above the current market clearing price, and inelasticity below it, requires firms to match price reductions by their competitors to maintain market share. The kinked demand curve theory is an economic theory regarding Oligopoly and Monopolistic competition. In Economics and business studies the price elasticity of demand (PED is a measure of the sensitivity of quantity demanded to changes in price
Note: For the general discussion of asymmetric upward- and downward-stickiness with respect to upstream prices see an article on asymmetric price transmission. Asymmetric price transmission (sometimes abbreviated as APT and informally called " rockets and feathers " [http//www
Impact during Deflation
During an economy wide monetary deflation the downward stickiness of nominal prices such as wages and office leases can cause the destruction of business viability. Deflation is the opposite of Inflation. Therefore under the usual contemporary definition of inflation 'deflation' means a decrease in the general price level. In extreme cases the only way for businesses to escape contractual commitments (office leases and employment contracts) in such a situation is to declare bankruptcy. An increase in bankruptcies is sometimes cited as indicative of deflationary forces at work in the economy. It is only after such bankruptcies have transpired that consumer prices can move downward to align with the changed value of cash.
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