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Animal Spirits, Lumpy Investment, and Endogenous Business Cycles

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Author Info
Giovanni Dosi
Giorgio Fagiolo
Andrea Roventini

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Abstract

In this paper, we present an evolutionary model of industry dynamics yielding en- dogenous business cycles with 'Keynesian' features. The model describes an economy composed of firms and consumers/workers. Firms belong to two industries. The first one performs R&D and produces heterogeneous machine tools. Firms in the second industry invest in new machines and produce a homogenous consumption good. Consumers sell their labor and fully consume their income. In line with the empirical literature on investment patterns, we assume that the investment decisions by firms are lumpy and constrained by their financial structures. Moreover, drawing from behavioral theories of the firm, we assume boundedly rational expectation formation. Simulation results show that the model is able to deliver self-sustaining patterns of growth characterized by the presence of endogenous business cycles. The model can also replicate the most important stylized facts concerning micro- and macro-economic dynamics. Indeed, we find that investment is more volatile than GDP; consumption is less volatile than GDP; investment, consumption and change in stocks are procyclical and coincident variables; employment is procyclical; unemployment rate is countercyclical; firm size distributions are skewed but depart from log-normality; firm growth distributions are tent-shaped.

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Paper provided by Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy in its series LEM Papers Series with number 2005/04.

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Date of creation: 10 Apr 2005
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Handle: RePEc:ssa:lemwps:2005/04

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Keywords: Evolutionary Dynamics Agent-Based Computational Economics Animal Spirits Lumpy Investment Output Fluctuations Endogenous Business Cycles.

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  8. Giulio Bottazzi & Elena Cefis & Giovanni Dosi, 2002. "Corporate growth and industrial structures: some evidence from the Italian manufacturing industry," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press, vol. 11(4), pages 705-723, August.
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  9. Timothy Erickson & Toni M. Whited, 2000. "Measurement Error and the Relationship between Investment and q," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 108(5), pages 1027-1057, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  18. Dosi, Giovanni & Nelson, Richard R, 1994. "An Introduction to Evolutionary Theories in Economics," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 4(3), pages 153-72, September.
  19. Lane, David A, 1993. "Artificial Worlds and Economics, Part II," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 3(3), pages 177-97, August.
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  25. Fagiolo, Giorgio & Dosi, Giovanni, 2003. "Exploitation, exploration and innovation in a model of endogenous growth with locally interacting agents," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 237-273, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  26. Kirman, Alan, 1989. "The Intrinsic Limits of Modern Economic Theory: The Emperor Has No Clothes," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 99(395), pages 126-39, Supplemen. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  31. Kirman, Alan P, 1992. "Whom or What Does the Representative Individual Represent?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 6(2), pages 117-36, Spring. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  32. Mauro Napoletano & Andrea Roventini & Sandro Sapio, 2004. "Are Business Cycles All Alike? A Bandpass Filter Analysis of Italian and US Cycles," LEM Papers Series 2004/25, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy. [Downloadable!]
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Cited by:
(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. Giovanni Dosi & Giorgio Fagiolo & Andrea Roventini, 2008. "The microfoundations of business cycles: an evolutionary, multi-agent model," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 413-432, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Mauro Napoletano & Domenico Delli Gatti & Giorgio Fagiolo & Mauro Gallegati, 2005. "Weird Ties? Growth, Cycles and Firm Dynamics in an Agent-Based Model with Financial-Market Imperfections," LEM Papers Series 2005/03, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy. [Downloadable!]
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