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The Mix and Scale of Factors with Irreversibility and Fixed Costs of Investment

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Andrew B. Abel
Janice C. Eberly

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Abstract

When factors of production can be adjusted costlessly, the mix of factors can be considered separately from their scale. We examine factor choice and utilization when investment is irreversible and subject to a fixed cost, so that the capital stock is a quasi-fixed factor that is adjusted infrequently and by discrete amounts. We derive and analyze analytic approximations for optimal investment behavior, and show how the quasi-fixity of capital eliminates the dichotomy between factor mix and scale. We show that the quasi-fixity of capital can give rise to labor hoarding, even when labor is a purely flexible factor.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 6148.

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Date of creation: Aug 1997
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:6148

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E22 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomics: Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Capital; Investment; Capacity

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  1. Ricardo J. Caballero & Eduardo M. R. A. Engel & John C. Haltiwanger, 1995. "Plant-Level Adjustment and Aggregate Investment Dynamics," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 26(1995-2), pages 1-54. [Downloadable!]
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(explanations, 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.)

  1. Contreras, Juan, 2006. "An Empirical Model of Factor Adjustment Dynamics," MPRA Paper 9797, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  2. Böheim, René & Stiglbauer, Alfred & Winter-Ebmer, Rudolf, 2005. "On the Persistence of Firm Expansion. The survival of new jobs in Austrian firms," Economics Series 173, Institute for Advanced Studies. [Downloadable!]
  3. Pavlova, Anna, 2003. "Adjustment Costs, Learning-By-Doing, And Technology Adoption Under Uncertainty," Working papers 4369-01, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management. [Downloadable!]
  4. Anna Pavlova, . ""Adjustment Costs, Learning-by-Doing, and Technology Adoption under Uncertainty''," CARESS Working Papres 99-07, University of Pennsylvania Center for Analytic Research and Economics in the Social Sciences. [Downloadable!]
  5. ASANO Hirokatsu, 2008. "Econometric Analysis of Irreversible Investment with Financial Constraints: Comparison of Parametric and Semiparametric Estimations," Discussion papers 08032, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI). [Downloadable!]
  6. Øivind A. Nilsen, Arvid Raknerud, Marina Rybalka and Terje Skjerpen, 2005. "Lumpy Investments, Factor Adjustments and Productivity," Discussion Papers 441, Research Department of Statistics Norway. [Downloadable!]
  7. Russell W. Cooper & John C. Haltiwanger, 2000. "On the Nature of Capital Adjustment Costs," NBER Working Papers 7925, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  8. Edlira Narazani, 2004. "Interrelationships Between Labor and Capital Adjustment Decisions," Labor and Demography 0412003, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
  9. Goncharova, Natalia & Oskam, Arie J., 2006. "Investment Spikes in Dutch Horticulture: An Analysis at Firm and Aggregate Firm Level Over the Period 1975-1999," 2006 Annual Meeting, August 12-18, 2006, Queensland, Australia 25621, International Association of Agricultural Economists. [Downloadable!]
  10. René Böheim & Alfred Stiglbauer & Rudolf Winter-Ebmer, 2005. "When and How to Create a Job: The Survival of New Jobs in Austrian Firms," IZA Discussion Papers 1602, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  11. Scott Schuh & Robert K. Triest, 1998. "Job reallocation and the business cycle: new facts for an old debate," Conference Series ; [Proceedings], Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, issue Jun, pages 271-357. [Downloadable!]
  12. Scott Schuh & Robert K Triest, 1998. "Job Reallocation And The Business Cycle: New Facts An Old Debate," Working Papers 98-11, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau. [Downloadable!]
  13. Baerenklau, Kenneth A. & Knapp, Keith C., 2005. "A Stochastic-Dynamic Model of Costly Reversible Technology Adoption," 2005 Annual meeting, July 24-27, Providence, RI 19156, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association). [Downloadable!]
  14. René Böheim & Alfred Stiglbauer & Rudolf Winter-Ebmer, 2008. "On the Persistence of Job Creation in Old and New Firms," Economics working papers 2008-04, Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  15. Julian Fennema, 2006. "An Alternative Estimation Framework for Firm-Level Capital Investment," CERT Discussion Papers 0602, Centre for Economic Reform and Transformation, Heriot Watt University. [Downloadable!]
  16. Miao, Jianjun & Wang, Pengfei, 2009. "Does Lumy Investment Matter for Business Cycles?," MPRA Paper 14977, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  17. Pavlova, Anna, 2002. "Adjustment Costs, Learning-by-Doing, and Technology Adoption Under Uncertainty," Working papers 4369-01, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management. [Downloadable!]
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