Inflation and Capacity Constraints in Australian Manufacturing Industry

In the present paper we estimate a model of price-cost inflation for Australia using business survey responses of firms in the manufacturing sector. The data allow us to circumvent a number of key statistical problems, related in particular to the measurement of costs and structural changes in the model. Equally important, the data allow a new and more detailed perspective on the nature of supply constraints affecting inflation in the manufacturing sector. A new finding is that capital constraints have been more important in generating inflationary pressure than labour constraints or general indicators of capacity utilisation.