Cyclical Productivity with Unobserved Input Variation

Cyclical Productivity with Unobserved Input Variation PDF Author: Susanto Basu
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Business cycles
Languages : en
Pages : 60

Get Book Here

Book Description
In this paper, we derive and estimate relationships governing variable utilization of capital and labor for a firm solving a dynamic cost-minimization problem. Our method allows for (i) imperfect competition, (ii) increasing returns to scale, (iii) unobserved changes in utilization, (iv) unobserved changes in technology, (v) unobserved fluctuations in the factor prices of capital and labor, (vi) unobserved fluctuations in the shadow price of output, and (vii) the non-existence of a value-added production function. We can estimate the parameters of interest without imposing specific functional forms or using restrictions from assuming the existence of a representative consumer. We find that variable capital and labor utilization explain 40-60 percent of the cyclicality of the Solow residual in U.S. manufacturing, so true technology shocks have a lower correlation with output than the RBC literature assumes. Controlling for variable utilization also eliminates the evidence for increasing returns to scale. We show that our model-based proxies for variable utilization are valid even when extending the workweek of capital potentially has two costs: a shift premium paid to workers, as well as a higher rate of depreciation. Thus, these proxies can be used under very general conditions in a wide range of empirical work.

New Developments in Productivity Analysis

New Developments in Productivity Analysis PDF Author: Charles R. Hulten
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226360644
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 648

Get Book Here

Book Description
The productivity slowdown of the 1970s and 1980s and the resumption of productivity growth in the 1990s have provoked controversy among policymakers and researchers. Economists have been forced to reexamine fundamental questions of measurement technique. Some researchers argue that econometric approaches to productivity measurement usefully address shortcomings of the dominant index number techniques while others maintain that current productivity statistics underreport damage to the environment. In this book, the contributors propose innovative approaches to these issues. The result is a state-of-the-art exposition of contemporary productivity analysis. Charles R. Hulten is professor of economics at the University of Maryland. He has been a senior research associate at the Urban Institute and is chair of the Conference on Research in Income and Wealth of the National Bureau of Economic Research. Michael Harper is chief of the Division of Productivity Research at the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Edwin R. Dean, formerly associate commissioner for Productivity and Technology at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, is adjunct professor of economics at The George Washington University.

Technology Shocks and Aggregate Fluctuations

Technology Shocks and Aggregate Fluctuations PDF Author: Mr.Pau Rabanal
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN: 1451875657
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 68

Get Book Here

Book Description
Our answer: Not so well. We reached that conclusion after reviewing recent research on the role of technology as a source of economic fluctuations. The bulk of the evidence suggests a limited role for aggregate technology shocks, pointing instead to demand factors as the main force behind the strong positive comovement between output and labor input measures.

Exemplary Economists: North America

Exemplary Economists: North America PDF Author: Roger Backhouse
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 9781782543114
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 488

Get Book Here

Book Description
Focuses on leading economists who were born, or have spent the greater part of their lives, in America.

Handbook of Macroeconomics

Handbook of Macroeconomics PDF Author: John B. Taylor
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 9780444501578
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 576

Get Book Here

Book Description
Annotation Part 6: Financial Markets and the Macroeconomy. 19. Asset prices, consumption, and the business cycle (J.Y. Campbell). 20. Human behavior and the efficiency of the financial system (R.J. Shiller). 21. The financial accelerator in a quantitative business cycle framework (B. Bernanke, M. Gertler and S. Gilchrist). Part 7: Monetary and Fiscal Policy. 22. Political economics and macroeconomic policy (T. Persson, G. Tabellini). 23. Issues in the design of monetary policy rules (B.T. McCallum). 24. Inflation stabilization and BOP crises in developing countries (G.A. Calvo, C.A. Vegh). 25. Government debt (D.W. Elmendorf, N.G. Mankiw). 26. Optimal fiscal and monetary policy (V.V. Chari, P.J. Kehoe).

Unobserved Factor Utilization, Technology Shocks and Business Cycles

Unobserved Factor Utilization, Technology Shocks and Business Cycles PDF Author: Domenico Marchetti
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Business cycles
Languages : en
Pages : 52

Get Book Here

Book Description


Stochastic Dynamic Macroeconomics

Stochastic Dynamic Macroeconomics PDF Author: Gang Gong
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0195345738
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 213

Get Book Here

Book Description
This is a book on stochastic dynamic macroeconomics from a Keynesian perspective. It shows that including Keynesian features in intertemporal models considerably contributes to resolve major puzzles arising in the context of the Dynamic General Equilibrium (DGE) model. It also demonstrates that including microeconomic intertemporal behavior of economic agents in macroeconomics is not inconsistent with Keynesian economics.

Cost Structure and the Measurement of Economic Performance

Cost Structure and the Measurement of Economic Performance PDF Author: Catherine J. Morrison Paul
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 0792384032
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 383

Get Book Here

Book Description
Cost Structure and the Measurement of Economic Performance is designed to provide a comprehensive guide for students, researchers or consultants who wish to model, construct, interpret, and use economic performance measures. The topical emphasis is on productivity growth and its dependence on the cost structure. The methodological focus is on application of the tools of economic analysis - the `thinking structure' provided by microeconomic theory - to measure technological or cost structure, and link it with market and regulatory structure. This provides a rich basis for evaluation of economic performance and its determinants. The format of the book stresses topics or questions of interest rather than the theoretical tools for analysis. Traditional productivity growth modeling and measurement practices that result in a productivity residual often called the `measure of our ignorance' are initially overviewed, and then the different aspects of technological, market and regulatory structure that might underlie this residual are explored. The ultimate goal is to decompose or explain the residual, by modeling and measuring a multitude of impacts that determine the economic performance of firms, sectors, and economies. The chapters are organized with three broad goals in mind. The first is to introduce the overall ideas involved in economic performance measurement and traditional productivity growth analysis. Issues associated with different types of (short and long run, internal and external) cost economies, market and regulatory impacts, and other general cost efficiencies that might impact these measures are then explored. Finally, some of the theoretical, data construction and econometric tools necessary to justify and implement these models are emphasized.

Business Cycles

Business Cycles PDF Author: Sumru Altug
Publisher: World Scientific
ISBN: 9812832769
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 161

Get Book Here

Book Description
Provides an overview of the modern theory and empirics of business cycles. This book examines the notion of a business cycle and discusses alternative approaches to modeling. It also discusses what lies ahead for modern business cycle theory.

NBER Macroeconomics Annual 2003

NBER Macroeconomics Annual 2003 PDF Author: Mark Gertler
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 9780262572217
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 436

Get Book Here

Book Description
The NBER Macroeconomics Annual presents pioneering work in macroeconomics by leading academic researchers to an audience of public policymakers and the academic community. Each commissioned paper is followed by comments and discussion. This year's edition provides a mix of cutting-edge research and policy analysis on such topics as productivity and information technology, the increase in wealth inequality, behavioral economics, and inflation.