Investment Rate vs Relative price of Investment

In this paper I accomplish a levels account exercise across countries in order to calculate contributions from differences in the relative price of investment and the investment rate to differences in the physical capital-output ratio -and consequently in output per worker- across countries. I find that differences in the relative price of investment account for most differences in the physical capital-output ratio across countries and, consequently, if capital share on income is broadly consistent with national income accounts data, they have a moderate importance in accounting for differences in output per worker. However, differences in the investment rate account for very little disparity in physical capital-output ratio and output per worker across countriesPhysical capital-output ratio; Output per worker; Investment rate; Relative price of investment

Existence, Uniqueness and Stability of Equilibrium in an Overlapping Generation Model with Monopolistic Competition and Free Entry and Exit of Firms

In this paper we have analyzed existence, uniqueness and stability of a steady-state equilibrium in an overlapping generations model with monopolistic competition and free entry and exit of firms. We establish a strenghtened Inada condition that is sufficient to exclude global contraction for any given set of well-behaved preferences. We also establish sufficient conditions for a non-trivial steady-state equilibrium to exist, and also sufficient conditions for its uniqueness and global stability. We show that the size of mark-up over marginal cost and the particular mix of fixed costs play a crucial role in these conditions and consequently on the dynamic behavior of the economyEquilibrium; Existence; Monopolistic Competition; Overlapping Generations; Stability; Uniqueness

Technological Progress, Obsolescence and Depreciation

We construct a vintage capital model à la Whelan (2002) with both exogenous embodied and disembodied technical progress, and variable utilization of each vintage. The lifetime of capital goods is endogenous and it relies on the associated maintenance costs. We study the properties of the balanced growth paths. First, we show that the lifetime of capital is an increasing (resp. decreasing) function of the rate of disembodied (resp.embodied) technical progress. Second, we show that both the use-related depreciation rate and the scrapping rate incease when embodied technical progress accelerates. However, the latter drops when disembodied technical progress accelerates while the former remains unaffected. A key feature of our model is that the age-related depreciation rate does depend on the obsolescence rate in sharp contrast to the neoclassical model.Vintage capital; operation costs; embodied technical progress; age-related depreciation; obsolescence

Embodied technological change learning-by-doing and the productivity slowdown

The productivity slowdown faced by the US economy since the first oil shock has been associated with a rise in the decline rate of the relative price of equipment and a reduction in the rate of disembodied technical change. We build up a growth model in which learning-by-doing is the engine of both embodied and disembodied technological progress. A change in the relative efficiency of learning-by-doing from the consumption to the investment sector is shown to imply a technological reassignment consistent with the above mentioned evidence. This result derives from the interaction between the obsolescence costs inherent to embodiment and the learning-by-doing engine.Embodied technical progress, Obsolescence, Learning-by-doing, Productivity slowdown

Obsolescence and Modernization in the Growth Process

In this paper, an endogenous growth model is built up incorporating Schumpeterian growth and embodied technological progress. Under embodiment, long run growth is affected by the following effects : (i) obsolescence costs add to the user cost of capital, reducing the research effort; and (ii) the modernization of capital through investment raises the incentives to undertake R&D activities. Applied to the understanding of the growth enhancing role of both capital and R&D subsidies, we conclude that the positive effect of modernization generally more than compensate the negative effect of obsolescenceShumpeterian growth; Creative destruction; Embodiment;Obsolescence; Modernization

Obsolescence and productivity

The increase in the obsolescence of intangible capital caused by the adop- tion of new information technologies can play an important role in accounting for the productivity slowdown undergone by the US economy since 1974. To explore this hypothesis, we have developed a standard growth model with physical and intangi- ble capital in which technical progress is equipment–specific. We assume that the obsolescence of intangible capital increases when the equipment–specific techni- cal progress accelerates. The model is calibrated for the period 1957–1973 and the response of the economy to an increase in the rate of equipment–specific technical progress — as observed since 1974 — is simulated. We show that this setup can account for a large part of the post–1974 slowdown observed in productivity and in the Solow residual.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Vintage capital and the dynamics of the AK model

This paper analyzes the equilibrium dynamics of an AK-type endogenous growth model with vintage capital. The inclusion of vintage capital leads to oscillatory dynamics governed by replacement echoes, which additionally influence the intercept of the balanced growth path. These features, which are in sharp contrast to those from the standard AK model, can contribute to explaining the short-run deviations observed between investment and growth rates time series. To characterize the optimal solutions of the model we develop analytical and numerical methods that should be of interest for the general resolution of endogenous growth models with vintage capital.Endogenous growth, Vintage capital, AK model, Differencedifferential equations

Endogenous vs Exogenously Driven Fluctuations in Vintage Capital Models

In this paper, we present a simple vintage capital growth model in which both exogenous and endogenous fluctuations sources are present. Indeed, it can be seen as a particular case of Caballero and Hammour (1996)'s creative destruction model, with advantage that analytical characterization of the short run and asymptotic dynamics is partially allowed. In particular, we show that job creation follows a delayed-differential equation with periodic coefficients. The delay is equal to the optimal age of capital goods, and can be taken as a measure of the periodicity of the endogenous replacement echoes inherent to vintage models. The period of the coefficients is equal to the period of an exogenous profitability cycle. We mathematically show that job creation is asymptotically periodic, with the same period as the profitability cycle. Furthermore using an explicit numerical method, we find that replacement echoes generally dominate the short run dynamics. Finally, we find that the combination of the two fluctuations sources favors the appearance of asymmetries in job creation and job destruction patterns.Endogenous fluctuations; Vintage capital models; Replacement echoes; Differential-difference equations; Floquet representations