Bargaining and the value of money

Search models of monetary exchange have typically relied on Nash [1950. The bargaining problem. Econometrica 18, 155–162] bargaining, or strategic games that yield an equivalent outcome, to determine the terms of trade. By considering alternative axiomatic bargaining solutions in a search model with divisible money, we show that the properties of the bargaining solutions do matter both qualitatively and quantitatively for questions of first-degree importance in monetary economics such as: (i) the efficiency of monetary equilibrium; (ii) the optimality of the Friedman rule and (iii) the welfare cost of inflation.