IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/eecrev/v139y2021ics0014292121001902.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Are neutral and investment-specific technology shocks correlated?

Author

Listed:
  • Moura, Alban

Abstract

The joint behavior of Total Factor Productivity (TFP) and the Relative Price of Investment (RPI) in the data lead several authors to conclude that neutral technology shocks are positively correlated with investment-specific technology shocks, challenging the specification of standard macroeconomic models. This paper rejects the correlated-shocks hypothesis using both parametric and non-parametric methods and controlling for structural breaks. The data suggests moderately negative long-run covariation between the RPI and TFP constructed from chain-linked output, but the RPI is orthogonal to TFP in consumption units. These results are consistent with a simple two-sector model in which neutral technology shocks and investment-specific technology shocks are uncorrelated, while models with correlated shocks cannot account for the second result. I conclude that it is not necessary to adapt macro models to allow for correlated technology processes.

Suggested Citation

  • Moura, Alban, 2021. "Are neutral and investment-specific technology shocks correlated?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eecrev:v:139:y:2021:i:c:s0014292121001902
    DOI: 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2021.103866
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0014292121001902
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.euroecorev.2021.103866?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Greenwood, Jeremy & Hercowitz, Zvi & Krusell, Per, 2000. "The role of investment-specific technological change in the business cycle," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 91-115, January.
    2. repec:ucp:bknber:9780226304557 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Benati, Luca, 2014. "Do TFP and the relative price of investment share a common I(1) component?," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 239-261.
    4. Alejandro Justiniano & Giorgio Primiceri & Andrea Tambalotti, 2011. "Investment Shocks and the Relative Price of Investment," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 14(1), pages 101-121, January.
    5. Justiniano, Alejandro & Primiceri, Giorgio E. & Tambalotti, Andrea, 2010. "Investment shocks and business cycles," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(2), pages 132-145, March.
    6. André Kurmann & Eric Sims, 2021. "Revisions in Utilization-Adjusted TFP and Robust Identification of News Shocks," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 103(2), pages 216-235, May.
    7. Alban Moura, 2018. "Investment Shocks, Sticky Prices, and the Endogenous Relative Price of Investment," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 27, pages 48-63, January.
    8. Jonas D. M. Fisher, 1999. "The new view of growth and business cycles," Economic Perspectives, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, vol. 23(Q I), pages 35-56.
    9. Neville Francis & Michael T. Owyang & Jennifer E. Roush & Riccardo DiCecio, 2014. "A Flexible Finite-Horizon Alternative to Long-Run Restrictions with an Application to Technology Shocks," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 96(4), pages 638-647, October.
    10. Jonas D. M. Fisher, 2006. "The Dynamic Effects of Neutral and Investment-Specific Technology Shocks," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 114(3), pages 413-451, June.
    11. Beaudry, Paul & Moura, Alban & Portier, Franck, 2015. "Reexamining the cyclical behavior of the relative price of investment," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 108-111.
    12. Jason G. Cummins & Giovanni L. Violante, 2002. "Investment-Specific Technical Change in the US (1947-2000): Measurement and Macroeconomic Consequences," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 5(2), pages 243-284, April.
    13. Whelan, Karl, 2003. "A Two-Sector Approach to Modeling U.S. NIPA Data," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 35(4), pages 627-656, August.
    14. Jushan Bai & Pierre Perron, 1998. "Estimating and Testing Linear Models with Multiple Structural Changes," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 66(1), pages 47-78, January.
    15. Luca Guerrieri & Dale Henderson & Jinill Kim, 2020. "Interpreting shocks to the relative price of investment with a two‐sector model," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 35(1), pages 82-98, January.
    16. Zhongjun Qu & Pierre Perron, 2007. "Estimating and Testing Structural Changes in Multivariate Regressions," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 75(2), pages 459-502, March.
    17. Perron, Pierre, 1989. "The Great Crash, the Oil Price Shock, and the Unit Root Hypothesis," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 57(6), pages 1361-1401, November.
    18. Ulrich K. Müller & Mark W. Watson, 2018. "Long†Run Covariability," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 86(3), pages 775-804, May.
    19. Stephanie Schmitt-Grohe & Martin Uribe, 2011. "Business Cycles With A Common Trend in Neutral and Investment-Specific Productivity," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 14(1), pages 122-135, January.
    20. Alban Moura, 2018. "Investment Shocks, Sticky Prices, and the Endogenous Relative Price of Investment," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 27, pages 48-63, January.
    21. Perron, Pierre & Yabu, Tomoyoshi, 2009. "Testing for Shifts in Trend With an Integrated or Stationary Noise Component," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 27(3), pages 369-396.
    22. Kim, Dukpa & Perron, Pierre, 2009. "Unit root tests allowing for a break in the trend function at an unknown time under both the null and alternative hypotheses," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 148(1), pages 1-13, January.
    23. Alban Moura, 2020. "Total factor productivity and the measurement of neutral technology," BCL working papers 143, Central Bank of Luxembourg.
    24. Zheng Liu & Daniel F. Waggoner & Tao Zha, 2011. "Sources of macroeconomic fluctuations: A regime‐switching DSGE approach," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 2(2), pages 251-301, July.
    25. Andreas Hornstein & Per Krusell, 1996. "Can Technology Improvements Cause Productivity Slowdowns?," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 1996, Volume 11, pages 209-276, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    26. Frank Smets & Rafael Wouters, 2007. "Shocks and Frictions in US Business Cycles: A Bayesian DSGE Approach," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 97(3), pages 586-606, June.
    27. Greenwood, Jeremy & Hercowitz, Zvi & Krusell, Per, 1997. "Long-Run Implications of Investment-Specific Technological Change," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(3), pages 342-362, June.
    28. Harald Uhlig, 2004. "Do Technology Shocks Lead to a Fall in Total Hours Worked?," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 2(2-3), pages 361-371, 04/05.
    29. Oulton, Nicholas, 2007. "Investment-specific technological change and growth accounting," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(4), pages 1290-1299, May.
    30. Robert J. Gordon, 1990. "The Measurement of Durable Goods Prices," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number gord90-1.
    31. Jushan Bai & Robin L. Lumsdaine & James H. Stock, 1998. "Testing For and Dating Common Breaks in Multivariate Time Series," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 65(3), pages 395-432.
    32. Chen, Kaiji & Wemy, Edouard, 2015. "Investment-specific technological changes: The source of long-run TFP fluctuations," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 230-252.
    33. Greenwood, Jeremy & Krusell, Per, 2007. "Growth accounting with investment-specific technological progress: A discussion of two approaches," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(4), pages 1300-1310, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Alban Moura, 2023. "Trend breaks and the long-run implications of investment-specific technological progress," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(16), pages 2270-2275, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alban Moura, 2020. "Total factor productivity and the measurement of neutral technology," BCL working papers 143, Central Bank of Luxembourg.
    2. Benati, Luca, 2014. "Do TFP and the relative price of investment share a common I(1) component?," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 239-261.
    3. Nadav Ben Zeev, 2019. "Is There A Single Shock That Drives The Majority Of Business Cycle Fluctuations?," Working Papers 1906, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Department of Economics.
    4. Thomet, Jacqueline & Wegmueller, Philipp, 2021. "Technology Shocks And Hours Worked: A Cross-Country Analysis," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 25(4), pages 1020-1052, June.
    5. Justiniano, Alejandro & Primiceri, Giorgio E. & Tambalotti, Andrea, 2010. "Investment shocks and business cycles," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(2), pages 132-145, March.
    6. Ramey, V.A., 2016. "Macroeconomic Shocks and Their Propagation," Handbook of Macroeconomics, in: J. B. Taylor & Harald Uhlig (ed.), Handbook of Macroeconomics, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 71-162, Elsevier.
    7. Seunghoon Na & Hyunseung Oh, 2020. "Computerizing Households and the Role of Investment-Specific Productivity in Business Cycles," International Finance Discussion Papers 1292, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    8. Beaudry, Paul & Moura, Alban & Portier, Franck, 2015. "Reexamining the cyclical behavior of the relative price of investment," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 108-111.
    9. Ma, Xiaohan & Samaniego, Roberto, 2022. "Business cycle dynamics when neutral and investment-specific technology shocks are imperfectly observable," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    10. Paul Beaudry & Franck Portier, 2014. "News-Driven Business Cycles: Insights and Challenges," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 52(4), pages 993-1074, December.
    11. Sohei Kaihatsu & Takushi Kurozumi, 2014. "Sources of Business Fluctuations: Financial or Technology Shocks?," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 17(2), pages 224-242, April.
    12. Ma, Xiaohan, 2018. "Investment specific technology, news, sentiment, and fluctuations: Evidence from nowcast data," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 55-70.
    13. Schorfheide, Frank & Fuentes-Albero, Cristina & Kryshko, Maxym & Santaeulà lia-Llopis, Raül, 2009. "Methods versus Substance: Measuring the Effects of Technology Shocks on Hours," CEPR Discussion Papers 7474, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    14. Zheng Liu & Daniel F. Waggoner & Tao Zha, 2009. "Sources of the Great Moderation: shocks, frictions, or monetary policy?," FRB Atlanta Working Paper 2009-03, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
    15. Andrei Polbin & Sergey Drobyshevsky, 2014. "Developing a Dynamic Stochastic Model of General Equilibrium for the Russian Economy," Research Paper Series, Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy, issue 166P, pages 156-156.
    16. Jorge Duran & Omar Licandro, 2015. "Is the output growth rate in NIPA a welfare measure?," Discussion Papers 2015/18, University of Nottingham, Centre for Finance, Credit and Macroeconomics (CFCM).
    17. Gubler, Matthias & Hertweck, Matthias S., 2013. "Commodity price shocks and the business cycle: Structural evidence for the U.S," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 324-352.
    18. Alejandro Justiniano & Giorgio Primiceri & Andrea Tambalotti, 2011. "Investment Shocks and the Relative Price of Investment," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 14(1), pages 101-121, January.
    19. Brianti, Marco & Gáti, Laura, 2023. "Information and communication technologies and medium-run fluctuations," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    20. Cho, Daeha & Kim, Kwang Hwan, 2022. "Inefficient relative price fluctuations," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Total factor productivity; Relative price of investment; Neutral technology; Investment-specific technology; Long-run covariability; Structural VARs;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E30 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • O41 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - One, Two, and Multisector Growth Models

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:eecrev:v:139:y:2021:i:c:s0014292121001902. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/eer .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.