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The Return to Capital and the Business Cycle

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  • Gomme, Paul
  • Ravikumar, B
  • Rupert, Peter

Abstract

We measure the return to capital directly from the NIPA and BEA data and examine the return implications of the real business cycle model. We construct a quarterly time series of the after-tax return to business capital. Its volatility is considerably smaller than that of S&P 500 returns. The standard business cycle model captures almost 50% of the volatility in the return to capital (relative to the volatility of output). We consider several departures from the benchmark model; the most promising is one with stochastic taxes which captures nearly 80% of the relative volatility in the return to capital.

Suggested Citation

  • Gomme, Paul & Ravikumar, B & Rupert, Peter, 2007. "The Return to Capital and the Business Cycle," University of California at Santa Barbara, Economics Working Paper Series qt8d5824r7, Department of Economics, UC Santa Barbara.
    • Handle: RePEc:cdl:ucsbec:qt8d5824r7
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    return to capital; volatility; real business cycles;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles

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