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Organizational Capital, Learning-by-Doing and Investment Volatility

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  • Fabiano Rodrigues Bastos

    (Universidade de Brasília)

Abstract

This paper addresses the issue of plant-level investment volatility in the context of a purely convex model, where fluctuations are driven by technological shocks. The aim is to assess the role of learning-by-doing in reproducing the well-documented non-smooth investment dynamics at the plant-level, instead of relying on typical non-convexities (fixed costs or indivisibilities) used to account for lumpy investment behavior. The concept of organizational capital is essential in the analysis, and it provides the channel through which learning affects production. Our results indicate that learning-by-doing constitutes a potentially important source of investment volatility at the plant-level, and that one should not believe that convex models of investment necessarily deliver smooth dynamics.

Suggested Citation

  • Fabiano Rodrigues Bastos, 2007. "Organizational Capital, Learning-by-Doing and Investment Volatility," Economia, ANPEC - Associação Nacional dos Centros de Pós-Graduação em Economia [Brazilian Association of Graduate Programs in Economics], vol. 8(3), pages 463-475.
    • Handle: RePEc:anp:econom:v:8:y:2007:i:3:p:463-475
    as

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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Parente Stephen L., 1994. "Technology Adoption, Learning-by-Doing, and Economic Growth," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 63(2), pages 346-369, August.
    2. Jovanovic, Boyan & Nyarko, Yaw, 1996. "Learning by Doing and the Choice of Technology," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 64(6), pages 1299-1310, November.
    3. Sakellaris, Plutarchos, 2004. "Patterns of plant adjustment," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 425-450, March.
    4. Sherwin Rosen, 1972. "Learning by Experience as Joint Production," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 86(3), pages 366-382.
    5. Cooper, Russell & Johri, Alok, 2002. "Learning-by-doing and aggregate fluctuations," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(8), pages 1539-1566, November.
    6. Andrew Atkeson & Patrick J. Kehoe, 2002. "Measuring Organization Capital," NBER Working Papers 8722, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. repec:umd:umdeco:sakellaris0001 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Russell W. Cooper & John C. Haltiwanger, 2006. "On the Nature of Capital Adjustment Costs," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 73(3), pages 611-633.
    9. Mark E. Doms & Timothy Dunne, 1998. "Capital Adjustment Patterns in Manufacturing Plants," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 1(2), pages 409-429, April.
    10. 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(2), pages 1-54.
    11. C. Lanier Benkard, 2000. "Learning and Forgetting: The Dynamics of Aircraft Production," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(4), pages 1034-1054, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Organizational Capital; Investment Volatility; Learning-by-Doing;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C63 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Computational Techniques
    • D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory
    • E22 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Investment; Capital; Intangible Capital; Capacity

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