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Durable Goods Inventories and the Volatility of Production: A Puzzle

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Author Info
Wen, Yi (Cornell U)

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Abstract

A stylized fact associated with inventory behavior is that durable goods production and inventory investment are about 5 times more volatile than those of nondurable goods. This paper shows that the stockout-avoidance theory of inventories (Kahn, AER 1987) featuring demand uncertainty and production lags is inconsistent with this stylized fact. The predicted variance of production is negatively related to the degree of durability of consumption goods. In particular, production is less variable both absolutely and relative to sales when consumption goods are more durable. In addition, durable goods production can be less variable than sales even under serially correlated demand shocks. These predictions run counter to the data.

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Paper provided by Cornell University, Center for Analytic Economics in its series Working Papers with number 03-12.

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Date of creation: Nov 2003
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Handle: RePEc:ecl:corcae:03-12

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  1. Blanchard, Olivier J, 1983. "The Production and Inventory Behavior of the American Automobile Industry," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 91(3), pages 365-400, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  2. Andrew B. Abel, 1985. "Inventories, Stock-Outs, and Production Smoothing," NBER Working Papers 1563, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  3. Mark Bils & James A. Kahn, 2000. "What Inventory Behavior Tells Us about Business Cycles," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(3), pages 458-481, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  4. Martin Feldstein & Alan Auerbach, 1976. "Inventory Behavior in Durable-Goods Manufacturing: The Target-Adjustment Model," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 7(1976-2), pages 351-408. [Downloadable!]
  5. Ramey, Valerie A, 1989. "Inventories as Factors of Production and Economic Fluctuations," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(3), pages 338-54, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Kahn, James A, 1992. "Why Is Production More Volatile Than Sales? Theory and Evidence on the Stockout-Avoidance Motive for Inventory-Holding," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 107(2), pages 481-510, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. James A. Kahn & Margaret M. McConnell & Gabriel Perez-Quiros, 2002. "On the causes of the increased stability of the U.S. economy," Economic Policy Review, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, issue May, pages 183-202. [Downloadable!]
  8. Blinder, Alan S & Maccini, Louis J, 1991. "Taking Stock: A Critical Assessment of Recent Research on Inventories," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 5(1), pages 73-96, Winter. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Maccini, Louis J & Zabel, Edward, 1996. "Serial Correlation in Demand, Backlogging and Production Volatility," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 37(2), pages 423-52, May.
  10. Andreas Hornstein, 1998. "Inventory investment and the business cycle," Economic Quarterly, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, issue Spr, pages 49-71. [Downloadable!]
  11. Kahn, James A, 1987. "Inventories and the Volatility of Production," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 77(4), pages 667-79, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Blinder, Alan S, 1982. "Inventories and Sticky Prices: More on the Microfoundations of Macroeconomics," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 72(3), pages 334-48, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  13. Eichenbaum, Martin, 1989. "Some Empirical Evidence on the Production Level and Production Cost Smoothing Models of Inventory Investment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(4), pages 853-64, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  14. Amihud, Yakov & Mendelson, Haim, 1983. "Price Smoothing and Inventory," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 50(1), pages 87-98, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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