IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/gro/rugggd/gd-103.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Sensitivity of Capital Services Measurement: Measure all assets and the cost of capital

Author

Listed:
  • Inklaar, Robert

    (Groningen University)

Abstract

The measurement of capital inputs is still a contentious issue: many choices have to be made that have potentially large effects on the resulting capital input series, some entailing differing assumptions about firm behaviour. This paper compares a large number of methodological choices and their impact on US capital services growth at the industry and aggregate level. The results show that measuring all assets, in particular intangible assets, and the choice for the rate of return matter substantially, while other choices are less important. I also argue that for pragmatic reasons, an external rate of return is preferable because it is a transparent and robust choice.

Suggested Citation

  • Inklaar, Robert, 2008. "The Sensitivity of Capital Services Measurement: Measure all assets and the cost of capital," GGDC Research Memorandum GD-103, Groningen Growth and Development Centre, University of Groningen.
    • Handle: RePEc:gro:rugggd:gd-103
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://irs.ub.rug.nl/ppn/317332635
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nicholas Oulton, 2007. "Ex Post Versus Ex Ante Measures Of The User Cost Of Capital," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 53(2), pages 295-317, June.
    2. Jan Boone, 2008. "A New Way to Measure Competition," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 118(531), pages 1245-1261, August.
    3. D. W. Jorgenson & Z. Griliches, 1967. "The Explanation of Productivity Change," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 34(3), pages 249-283.
    4. Garner, Thesia I. & Verbrugge, Randal, 2009. "Reconciling user costs and rental equivalence: Evidence from the US consumer expenditure survey," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 172-192, September.
    5. Leonard I. Nakamura, 2010. "Intangible Assets And National Income Accounting," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 56(s1), pages 135-155, June.
    6. Randal Verbrugge, 2008. "The Puzzling Divergence Of Rents And User Costs, 1980–2004," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 54(4), pages 671-699, December.
    7. Jan Boone, 2008. "A New Way to Measure Competition," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 118(531), pages 1245-1261, August.
    8. Carol Corrado & John Haltiwanger & Daniel Sichel, 2005. "Measuring Capital in the New Economy," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number corr05-1, March.
    9. Abdul Azeez Erumban, 2008. "Rental Prices, Rates of Return, Capital Aggregation and Productivity: Evidence from EU and US," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo, vol. 54(3), pages 499-533, September.
    10. Berndt, Ernst R. & Fuss, Melvyn A., 1986. "Productivity measurement with adjustments for variations in capacity utilization and other forms of temporary equilibrium," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1-2), pages 7-29.
    11. Bert M. Balk, 2007. "Measuring Productivity Change without Neoclassical Assumptions: A Conceptual Analysis," CEPA Working Papers Series WP042007, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
    12. Corrado, Carol & Haltiwanger, John & Sichel, Daniel (ed.), 2005. "Measuring Capital in the New Economy," National Bureau of Economic Research Books, University of Chicago Press, number 9780226116129.
    13. Greenwood, Jeremy & Hercowitz, Zvi & Krusell, Per, 1997. "Long-Run Implications of Investment-Specific Technological Change," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(3), pages 342-362, June.
    14. Carol Corrado & John Haltiwanger & Daniel Sichel, 2005. "Introduction to "Measuring Capital in the New Economy"," NBER Chapters, in: Measuring Capital in the New Economy, pages 1-10, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Diewert, W. E., 1976. "Exact and superlative index numbers," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 4(2), pages 115-145, May.
    16. Erwin Diewert, 2008. "What Is To Be Done for Better productivity Measurement," International Productivity Monitor, Centre for the Study of Living Standards, vol. 16, pages 40-52, Spring.
    17. Dale W. Jorgenson & Mun S. Ho & Kevin J. Stiroh, 2005. "Productivity, Volume 3: Information Technology and the American Growth Resurgence," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 3, number 0262101114, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ana Rincon-Aznar, 2009. "Rates of return and alternative measures of capital input: 14 countries and 10 branches, 1971-2005," National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) Discussion Papers 347, National Institute of Economic and Social Research.
    2. Batista, Alexandre Ricardo de Aragão, 2019. "Coeficientes De Capital E Trabalho No Setor De Serviços Para O Brasil Por Meio De Dados Em Painel [Labor And Capital Coefficients In Services Sector For Brazil Usind Data Panel]," MPRA Paper 97554, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 13 Dec 2019.
    3. Oulton, Nicholas & Wallis, Gavin, 2016. "Capital stocks and capital services: Integrated and consistent estimates for the United Kingdom, 1950–2013," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 117-125.
    4. Nicholas Oulton & Ana Rincon-Aznar, 2009. "Rates of Return and Alternative Measures of Capital Input: 14 Countries and 10 Branches, 1971-2005," CEP Discussion Papers dp0957, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    5. repec:old:wpaper:351 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. W. Erwin Diewert & Emily Yu, 2012. "New Estimates of Real Income and Multifactor Productivity Growth for the Canadian Business Sector, 1961-2011," International Productivity Monitor, Centre for the Study of Living Standards, vol. 24, pages 27-48, Fall.
    7. Matthew K. Heun & João Santos & Paul E. Brockway & Randall Pruim & Tiago Domingos & Marco Sakai, 2017. "From Theory to Econometrics to Energy Policy: Cautionary Tales for Policymaking Using Aggregate Production Functions," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-44, February.
    8. Xi Chen & Tatiana Plotnikova, 2018. "The Measurement of Capital: Retrieving Initial Values from Panel Data," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 64(3), pages 542-562, September.
    9. Thomas Niebel & Mary O'Mahony & Marianne Saam, 2017. "The Contribution of Intangible Assets to Sectoral Productivity Growth in the EU," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 63, pages 49-67, February.
    10. Daniel Gallardo‐Albarrán & Robert Inklaar, 2021. "The Role Of Capital And Productivity In Accounting For Income Differences Since 1913," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(3), pages 952-974, July.
    11. Nicholas Oulton & Gavin Wallis, 2015. "Integrated Estimates of Capital Stocks and Services for the United Kingdom: 1950-2013," CEP Discussion Papers dp1342, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    12. Xi Wei & Xu Jun, 2015. "The Estimate of Capital Services by Sector in China," Journal of Systems Science and Information, De Gruyter, vol. 3(3), pages 214-233, June.
    13. repec:zbw:hohpro:351 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Niebel, Thomas & Saam, Marianne, 2011. "Productivity of ICT and non-ICT capital: The role of rates of return and capital prices," ZEW Discussion Papers 11-083, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    15. Paul E. Brockway & Matthew K. Heun & João Santos & John R. Barrett, 2017. "Energy-Extended CES Aggregate Production: Current Aspects of Their Specification and Econometric Estimation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-23, February.
    16. Wen Chen, 2018. "Cross‐Country Income Differences Revisited: Accounting for the Role of Intangible Capital," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 64(3), pages 626-648, September.
    17. Jürgen Bitzer & Erkan Gören, 2016. "Measuring capital services by energy use: an empirical comparative study," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(53), pages 5152-5167, November.
    18. , & Diewert, Erwin, 2014. "The Treatment of Financial Transactions in the SNA: A User Cost Approach," Economics working papers erwin_diewert-2014-8, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 20 Feb 2014.
    19. Nicholas Oulton & Ana Rincón-Aznar, 2012. "Rates of Return and Alternative Measures of Capital Input: 14 Countries and Ten Branches, 1971–2005," Chapters, in: Matilde Mas & Robert Stehrer (ed.), Industrial Productivity in Europe, chapter 10, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    20. Thomas Niebel & Marianne Saam, 2016. "ICT and Growth: The Role of Rates of Return and Capital Prices," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 62(2), pages 283-310, June.
    21. Serena Fatica, 2017. "Measurement and Allocation of Capital Inputs With Taxes: A Sensitivity Analysis for OECD Countries," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 63(1), pages 1-29, March.
    22. Ilya B. Voskoboynikov, 2023. "Sources of productivity growth in Eastern Europe and Russia before the global financial crisis," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 59(3), pages 225-241, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Robert Inklaar & Marcel P. Timmer, 2012. "Productivity Convergence Across Industries and Countries: The Importance of Theory-based Measurement," Chapters, in: Matilde Mas & Robert Stehrer (ed.), Industrial Productivity in Europe, chapter 11, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. Yu Sheng & Tom Jackson & Shiji Zhao & Dandan Zhang, 2017. "Measuring Output, Input and Total Factor Productivity in Australian Agriculture: An Industry-Level Analysis," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 63, pages 169-193, February.
    3. repec:dgr:rugggd:gd-103 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Mariela Dal Borgo & Peter Goodridge & Jonathan Haskel & Annarosa Pesole, 2013. "Productivity and Growth in UK Industries: An Intangible Investment Approach," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 75(6), pages 806-834, December.
    5. Peter ven de Ven & Anne Harrison & Barbara Fraumeni & Carol Corrado & Jonathan Haskel & Cecilia Jona-Lasinio, 2017. "Public Intangibles: The Public Sector and Economic Growth in the SNA," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 63, pages 355-380, December.
    6. Serena Fatica, 2017. "Measurement and Allocation of Capital Inputs With Taxes: A Sensitivity Analysis for OECD Countries," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 63(1), pages 1-29, March.
    7. Hulten, Charles R., 2010. "Growth Accounting," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, in: Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 987-1031, Elsevier.
    8. Dale W. Jorgenson & J. Steven Landefeld, 2006. "Blueprint for Expanded and Integrated US Accounts: Review, Assessment, and Next Steps," NBER Chapters, in: A New Architecture for the US National Accounts, pages 13-112, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. repec:dgr:rugggd:gd-109 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Felix Roth & Anna-Elisabeth Thum, 2022. "Intangible Capital and Labor Productivity Growth: Panel Evidence for the EU from 1998–2005," Contributions to Economics, in: Intangible Capital and Growth, chapter 0, pages 101-128, Springer.
    11. Marcel P. Timmer & Ilya B. Voskoboynikov, 2014. "Is Mining Fuelling Long-Run Growth in Russia? Industry Productivity Growth Trends Since 1995," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 60(S2), pages 398-422, November.
    12. Charles R. Hulten, 2000. "Total Factor Productivity: A Short Biography," NBER Working Papers 7471, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Carol Corrado & Jonathan Haskel & Cecilia Jona-Lasinio, 2017. "Knowledge Spillovers, ICT and Productivity Growth," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 79(4), pages 592-618, August.
    14. Leonard I. Nakamura, 2010. "Intangible Assets And National Income Accounting," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 56(s1), pages 135-155, June.
    15. Mauro Giorgio Marrano & Jonathan Haskel & Gavin Wallis, 2009. "What Happened To The Knowledge Economy? Ict, Intangible Investment, And Britain'S Productivity Record Revisited," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 55(3), pages 686-716, September.
    16. Roth, Felix & Sen, Ali & Rammer, Christian, 2021. "Intangible Capital and Firm-Level Productivity – Evidence from Germany," Hamburg Discussion Papers in International Economics 9, University of Hamburg, Department of Economics.
    17. Oulton, Nicholas & Wallis, Gavin, 2016. "Capital stocks and capital services: Integrated and consistent estimates for the United Kingdom, 1950–2013," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 117-125.
    18. Peter Goodridge & Jonathan Haskel & Gavin Wallis, 2017. "Spillovers from R&D and Other Intangible Investment: Evidence from UK Industries," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 63, pages 22-48, February.
    19. Chen, Wen & Niebel, Thomas & Saam, Marianne, 2016. "Are intangibles more productive in ICT-intensive industries? Evidence from EU countries," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(5), pages 471-484.
    20. Charles R. Hulten, 2009. "Growth Accounting," NBER Working Papers 15341, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    21. Michael Peneder & Christian Rammer, 2018. "Measuring Competitiveness," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 60838, April.
    22. Ellen R. McGrattan & Eduard C. Prescott, 2006. "Why Did U.S. Market Hours Boom in the 1990s?," 2006 Meeting Papers 192, Society for Economic Dynamics.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gro:rugggd:gd-103. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Hanneke Tamling (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ferugnl.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.