IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/oup/restud/v36y1969i2p137-152..html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Timescale of Economic Models: How Long is the Long Run?

Author

Listed:
  • A. B. Atkinson

Abstract

Although models of economic growth have been intensively studied in recent years, relatively little attention has been given to the underlying timescale of these models.2 While in many cases we know how the major variables of the models change over time, in very few cases do we know how quickly they will change. Yet the speed of change is a prediction of the model, and by examining this we have a further test of the model’s properties. For example, in many cases it is shown that all paths converge to a long-run equilibrium, but we also want to know how soon the paths will reach the vicinity of this equilibrium. The speed of convergence makes a great deal of difference to the way in which we think about the model. Alternatively, where a model gives rise to oscillations, we need to have some idea as to their probable period. If we throw away information about the time dimension, we are reducing still further our limited understanding of the relationship between these models and the real world.
(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

Suggested Citation

  • A. B. Atkinson, 1969. "The Timescale of Economic Models: How Long is the Long Run?," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 36(2), pages 137-152.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:restud:v:36:y:1969:i:2:p:137-152.
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.2307/2296833
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

    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:

    More about this item

    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:oup:restud:v:36:y:1969:i:2:p:137-152.. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: Oxford University Press (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://academic.oup.com/restud .

    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.