Cynthia Bansak (Department of Economics, Center for Public Economics , San Diego State University) Norman Morin (Federal Reserve Board) Martha Starr (American University)
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Capacity utilization has been a valuable indicator of inflationary pressure. Yet recent technological changes have made relationships between inputs and outputs more flexible, possibly eroding the predictive value of the utilization rate. This paper shows that, conceptually, technological change could either lower average utilization by making it cheaper to hold excess capacity, or raise utilization by making further changes in capacity less costly. Using data on 111 manufacturing industries from 1974 to 2000, we find that, for the average industry, technological change has had a modest but appreciable effect, shaving 0.2 to 2.3 percentage points off the utilization rate.
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Paper provided by San Diego State University, Department of Economics in its series Working Papers with number
0010.
Find related papers by JEL classification: D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Capital and Total Factor Productivity; Capacity E22 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomics: Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Capital; Investment; Capacity E31 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Price Level; Inflation; Deflation
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.:
Stephen G. Cecchetti, 1995.
"Inflation Indicators and Inflation Policy,"
NBER Chapters,
in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 1995, Volume 10, pages 189-236
National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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