Accumulation, distribution and employment: a structural VAR approach to a post-Keynesian macro model

Abstract

The paper investigates the relation between effective demand, income distribution and unemployment empirically. Its aim is to evaluate Keynesian, Kaldorian and neoclassical hypotheses about the determination of labor market variables. To do so, a vector autoregression model consisting of capital accumulation, capacity utilization, the profit share, unemployment and the growth of labor productivity is estimated. A general post-Keynesian model following the lines of Kalecki and Kaldor is presented and provides the specification for a structural VAR. The model is estimated for the USA, UK and France.Keynesian economics; macroeconomics; capital accumulation; distribution; unemployment; structural vectorautoregression