Three Strikes and You're Out: Reply to Cooper and Willis
Abstract
Cooper and Willis (2003) is the latest in a sequence of criticisms of our methodology for estimating aggregate nonlinearities when microeconomic adjustment is lumpy. Their case is based on "reproducing" our main findings using artificial data generated by a model where microeconomic agents face quadratic adjustment costs. That is, they supposedly find our results where they should not be found. The three claims on which they base their case are incorrect. Their mistakes range from misinterpreting their own simulation results to failing to understand the context in which our procedures should be applied. They also claim that our approach assumes that employment decisions depend on the gap between the target and current level of unemployment. This is incorrect as well, since the 'gap approach' has been derived formally from at least as sophisticated microeconomic models as the one they present. On a more positive note, the correct interpretation of Cooper and Willis's results shows that our procedures are surprisingly robust to significant departures from the assumptions made in our original derivations.Download Info
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Paper provided by Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, Yale University in its series Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers with number 1456.Length: 13 pages
Date of creation: Mar 2004
Date of revision:
Publication status: Published in American Economic Review (September 2004), 94(4): 1238-1244
Handle: RePEc:cwl:cwldpp:1456
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Related research
Keywords: Adjustment hazard; aggregate nonlinearities; lumpy adjustment; observed and unobserved gaps; quadratic adjustment;Other versions of this item:
- Ricardo J. Caballero & Eduardo M.R.A. Engel, 2004. "Three Strikes and You.re Out: Reply to Cooper and Willis," Working Papers 883, Economic Growth Center, Yale University.
- Ricardo J. Caballero & Eduardo M.R.A. Engel, 2004. "Three Strikes and You're Out: Reply to Cooper and Willis," NBER Working Papers 10368, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- E2 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomics: Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment
- J2 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor
- J6 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, and Vacancies
This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:
- NEP-ALL-2004-06-27 (All new papers)
References
References listed on IDEASPlease report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
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Citations
Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.Cited by:
- Marcela Eslava & John Haltiwanger & Adriana Kugler & Maurice Kugler, 2005.
"Factor Adjustments After Deregulation: Panel Evidence from Colombian Plants,"
NBER Working Papers
11656, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- Marcela Eslava & John Haltiwanger & Adriana Kugler & Maurice Kugler, 2010. "Factor Adjustments after Deregulation: Panel Evidence from Colombian Plants," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 92(2), pages 378-391, May.
- M. Eslava, J. Haltwanger, A. Kugler, M. Kugler, 2008. "Factor Adjustments After Deregulation: Panel Evidence from Colombian Plants," Working Papers eg0059, Wilfrid Laurier University, Department of Economics, revised 2008.
- Eslava, Marcela & Haltiwanger Jr, John C & Kugler, Adriana D. & Kugler, Maurice, 2005. "Factor Adjustments after Deregulation: Panel Evidence from Colombian Plants," CEPR Discussion Papers 5267, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
- Eslava, Marcela & Haltiwanger, John C. & Kugler, Adriana & Kugler, Maurice, 2005. "Factor Adjustments after Deregulation: Panel Evidence from Colombian Plants," IZA Discussion Papers 1751, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
- von Kalckreuth, Ulf, 2008. "Financing constraints, firm level adjustment of capital and aggregate implications," Discussion Paper Series 1: Economic Studies 2008,11, Deutsche Bundesbank, Research Centre.
- Christian Bayer, 2004. "A closer look at the gap. A comment on Cooper and Willis' 'mind the gap' paper," Macroeconomics 0408010, EconWPA.
- von Kalckreuth, Ulf, 2008.
"Panel estimation of state dependent adjustment when the target is unobserved,"
Discussion Paper Series 1: Economic Studies
2008,09, Deutsche Bundesbank, Research Centre.
- Ulf Kalckreuth, 2011. "Panel estimation of state-dependent adjustment when the target is unobserved," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 40(1), pages 205-235, February.
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