In this paper we study the capital adjustment process in Swedish manufacturing firms and relate the empirical findings to standard models of firm behavior in the presence of impediments to capital adjustments. We find that (i) an S,s model fits the data well in some, but not all, dimensions. (ii) A model with irreversible capital goes a long way in capturing the salient features of firm-level capital adjustment behavior. (iii) The partial adjustment model generally fails to explain capital adjustment patterns. (iv) The capital accumulation process is a highly volatile and non-persistent process on the firm-level. (v) Firms’ adjustment behavior is asymmetric in that they are more likely to tolerate excess capital than shortages of capital, and, finally, (vi) the estimated adjustment function implies that aggregate investment is relatively unresponsive to aggregate shocks in deep recessions as compared to normal times.
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Paper provided by Sveriges Riksbank (Central Bank of Sweden) in its series Working Paper Series with number
143.
Length: 43 pages Date of creation: 01 Dec 2002 Date of revision: Publication status: Published in Economic Journal, 2005, pages 969-986. Handle: RePEc:hhs:rbnkwp:0143
References listed on IDEAS Please 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.:
Ricardo J. Caballero, 1997.
"Aggregate Investment,"
NBER Working Papers
6264, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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