Foreword; Acknowledgments; Contents; Abstract; Zusammenfassung; List of Figures; List of Tables; 1 Introduction: Heterogeneity and Macroeconomics; 2 Can Monetary Policy Delay the Reallocation of Capital?*; Abstract; 2.1 Introduction; 2.2 Review of related literature; 2.3 The model; 2.3.1 Households; 2.3.2 Production; 2.3.3 Zero cut-off profit condition; 2.3.4 Aggregation; 2.3.5 Welfare analysis; 2.4 The long-run steady state; 2.5 The central bank; 2.6 Numerical simulations; 2.6.1 Monetary policy with r* r; 2.7 Conclusion; Appendix 2.A Structural breaks in the US real interest rates2.B Proofs; 2.B.1 Proof of Proposition 1; 2.B.2 Proof of Proposition 2; 2.B.3 Proof of Proposition 4; 2.C Optimization by the social planner; 3 Business Cycles and Monetary Policy with Productivity Heterogeneity**; Abstract; 3.1 Introduction; 3.2 Review of related literature; 3.3 The model; 3.3.1 Input good production; 3.3.2 Intermediate and final good production; 3.3.3 Aggregation; 3.3.4 Free entry and zero cut-off productivity condition; 3.3.5 Total output; 3.3.6 Households and preferences; 3.3.7 Wage setting and labor supply 3.3.8 The central bank3.3.9 Parametrization of the technology distribution; 3.3.10 Equilibrium and model dynamics; 3.4 Model estimations; 3.4.1 Calibration of parameters; 3.4.2 Impulse responses; 3.4.3 Second moments; 3.5 Some notes on monetary policy; 3.6 Conclusion; Appendix; 3.A Linearized model; 3.B OLS-regression for the Taylor rule; 3.C Impulse response functions following a monetary shock; 4 What Determines Price Changes and the Distribution of Prices? Evidence from the Swiss CPI.***; Abstract; 4.1 Introduction; 4.2 Review of related literature 4.3 Data description and descriptive statistics4.3.1 The data; 4.3.2 Constructed variables; 4.3.3 Descriptive statistics; 4.4 Econometric results; 4.4.1 Methodology; 4.4.2 Pricing at the extensive margin; 4.4.3 Pricing at the intensive margin; 4.4.4 The VAT; 4.4.5 Endogeneity issues; 4.4.6 Additional robustness checks; 4.5 Price dispersion; 4.6 Conclusion; Appendix; 4.A IV regressions; 4.B Additional robustness checks; 4.B.1 Reduced time frame; 4.B.2 Results with censored data; 4.B.3 Estimations for separated product groups; Bibliography.