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Evidence From Seven Countries on Whether Inventories Smooth Aggregate Output

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  • Kenneth D. West

Abstract

Casual examination of annual postwar data on inventories and aggregate output for seven developed countries -- Canada, France, West Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, United States -- suggests that in these countries the primary function of aggregate inventories is not to smooth aggregate output in the face of aggregate demand shocks. Japan is a possible exception to this generalization.

Suggested Citation

  • Kenneth D. West, 1988. "Evidence From Seven Countries on Whether Inventories Smooth Aggregate Output," NBER Working Papers 2664, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:2664
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Blinder, Alan S, 1981. "Inventories and the Structure of Macro Models," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 71(2), pages 11-16, May.
    2. West, Kenneth D, 1986. "A Variance Bounds Test of the Linear Quadratic Inventory Model," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(2), pages 374-401, April.
    3. Alan S. Blinder, 1986. "Can the Production Smoothing Model of Inventory Behavior be Saved?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 101(3), pages 431-453.
    4. Blinder, Alan S, 1982. "Inventories and Sticky Prices: More on the Microfoundations of Macroeconomics," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 72(3), pages 334-348, June.
    5. Kenneth D. West, 1987. "Order Backlogs and Production Smoothing," NBER Working Papers 2385, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    1. West, Kenneth D., 1992. "A comparison of the behavior of Japanese and US inventories," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(1-3), pages 115-122, February.
    2. Darren Flood & Philip Lowe, 1993. "Inventories and the Business Cycle," RBA Research Discussion Papers rdp9306, Reserve Bank of Australia.
    3. Eric Dubois, 1991. "Le modèle de lissage de la production par les stocks est-il valide en France ?," Économie et Prévision, Programme National Persée, vol. 99(3), pages 95-111.
    4. Beaulieu, J Joseph & Miron, Jeffrey A, 1992. "A Cross Country Comparison of Seasonal Cycles and Business Cycles," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 102(413), pages 772-788, July.
    5. Ramey, Valerie A. & West, Kenneth D., 1999. "Inventories," Handbook of Macroeconomics, in: J. B. Taylor & M. Woodford (ed.), Handbook of Macroeconomics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 13, pages 863-923, Elsevier.
    6. Blinder, Alan S & Maccini, Louis J, 1991. "The Resurgence of Inventory Research: What Have We Learned?," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 5(4), pages 291-328.
    7. Corbett, Jenny & Hay, Donald & Louri, Helen, 1999. "A financial portfolio approach to inventory behaviour: Japan and the UK," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(1-3), pages 43-52, March.
    8. Ginama, Isamu, 1996. "Conditional volatility and the production smoothing hypothesis of inventory investment," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(1-3), pages 29-36, August.
    9. Vastag, Gyula & Montabon, Frank, 2001. "Linkages among manufacturing concepts, inventories, delivery service and competitiveness," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(1-3), pages 195-204, May.
    10. Ginama, Isamu, 1999. "Conditional production smoothing in the United Kingdom and Japan," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(1-3), pages 23-32, March.
    11. David Bivin & Brad Humphreys, 2009. "Accounting for output fluctuations in manufacturing," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(18), pages 2335-2352.
    12. Darren Flood & Philip Lowe, 1995. "Inventories and the Business Cycle," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 71(1), pages 27-39, March.
    13. Carine Bouthevillain & Didier Eyssartier, 1997. "Le rôle des variations de stocks dans les cycles d'activité des principaux pays industrialisés," Revue de l'OFCE, Programme National Persée, vol. 62(1), pages 151-202.

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