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Productivity Slowdown and Resurgence. The Role of Capital Obsolescence

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  • Patrick Musso

Abstract

In a recent work, Karl Whelan [2003] argues that the hypothesis of balanced growth is firmly rejected by postwar u.s. data. There is some clear evidence that the ratio of real investment to real consumption has exhibited an upward trend since the late 1950s. In this case, the traditional one-sector model of economic growth provides a poor description of the long-run behavior of the u.s. economy. In this paper, I develop a simple two-sector model of economic growth in which the obsolescence of capital goods is endogenous. Numerical simulations of unbalanced growth paths suggest that the rapid decline in the relative price of equipment goods observed since the mid-1960s in the u.s. has shortened the average service-life of equipment, which, in turn, induced a long-lasting underestimation of the growth rate of Total Factor Productivity.

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  • Patrick Musso, 2004. "Productivity Slowdown and Resurgence. The Role of Capital Obsolescence," Revue économique, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 55(6), pages 1215-1239.
    • Handle: RePEc:cai:recosp:reco_556_1215
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Feldstein, Martin S & Rothschild, Michael, 1974. "Towards an Economic Theory of Replacement Investment," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 42(3), pages 393-423, May.
    2. Martin Neil Baily & Robert J. Gordon, 1988. "The Productivity Slowdown, Measurement Issues, and the Explosion of Computer Power," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 19(2), pages 347-432.
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    Cited by:

    1. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/2500 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Raouf Boucekkine & Fernando del Río & Blanca Martínez, 2009. "Technological progress, obsolescence, and depreciation," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 61(3), pages 440-466, July.
    3. Jean-Paul Fitoussi & Hélène Baudchon & Jérôme Creel & Jean-Luc Gaffard & Eloi Laurent & Jacques Le Cacheux & Patrick Musso & Michel Aglietta & Vladimir Borgy & Jean Chateau & Michel Juillard & Gilles , 2005. "Potential Growth in the EU : Prospects from Technical Progress and Eastern Enlargment," Working Papers hal-03458887, HAL.
    4. Jérôme Creel & Maurizio Iacopetta, 2015. "Macroeconomic Policy and potential growth," Documents de Travail de l'OFCE 2015-15, Observatoire Francais des Conjonctures Economiques (OFCE).
    5. repec:spo:wpecon:info:hdl:2441/2500 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Nicholas Apergis & John Sorros, 2013. "The role of fixed capital depreciations for TFP growth: evidence from firm level panel data estimates," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 37(4), pages 606-621, October.
    7. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/3d1rt55ran82d86guhaponket6 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. F. J. Escribá‐Pérez & M. J. Murgui‐García & J. R. Ruiz‐Tamarit, 2023. "Endogenous capital stock and depreciation in the United States," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 25(1), pages 139-167, February.
    9. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/2500 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. F. J. Escribá-Pérez & M. J. Murgui-García & J. R. Ruiz-Tamarit, 2019. "Capital Stock and Depreciation: Theory and an Empirical Application," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 2019004, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
    11. Mukoyama, Toshihiko, 2008. "Endogenous depreciation, mismeasurement of aggregate capital, and the productivity slowdown," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 513-522, March.
    12. Francisco-Javier Escribá-Pérez & María-José Murgui-García & José-Ramón Ruiz-Tamarit, 2022. "The devil is in the details: Capital stock estimation and aggregate productivity growth—An application to the Spanish economy," Portuguese Economic Journal, Springer;Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestao, vol. 21(1), pages 31-50, January.

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