We investigated the relative importance of technological and monetary shocks for the business cycles in the Brazilian economy between 1980 and 2009. In this investigation, we used the model money-in-the-utility function, which considers that holding money generates utility to the economic agents. Several simulations were performed to identify how the business cycles respond to shocks. The results indicate that, in addition to technological shocks, monetary shocks are important in explaining business cycles in the Brazilian economy during the analyzed period. Their effects on the volatility of real variables, however, were small.
Business cycles; Monetary and technological shocks; Brazilian economy
