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The Relative Price of Capital and Economic Structure

Author

Listed:
  • Roberto Samaniego

    (George Washington University)

  • Juliana Sun

    (Singapore Management University)

Abstract

Are trends in the price of capital technological in nature? First, we find that trends in the relative price of capital vary significantly across countries. We then show that a multi-industry growth model, calibrated to match differences in economic structure around the world and productivity growth rates across industries, accounts for this variation – mainly due to variation in the composition of capital. The finding indicates that the rate of change in the relative price of capital can be interpreted as investment-specific technical change – the extent to which productivity growth is relatively more rapid in the capital-producing sector. The model also accounts for the empirical dispersion of investment rates, but not of rates of economic growth. (Copyright: Elsevier)

Suggested Citation

  • Roberto Samaniego & Juliana Sun, 2020. "The Relative Price of Capital and Economic Structure," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 37, pages 127-155, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:red:issued:19-26
    DOI: 10.1016/j.red.2020.01.004
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    Cited by:

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    2. Alok Johri & Md Mahbubur Rahman, 2022. "The Rise and Fall of India's Relative Investment Price: A Tale of Policy Error and Reform," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 14(1), pages 146-178, January.
    3. Juliana Yu Sun & Huanhuan Zheng, 2024. "Cross‐border technology investments in recession," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 57(1), pages 297-330, February.
    4. B. Ben Moummad & E. Ezzahid & A. Zoglat, 2023. "The impact of capital goods prices on Africa's economic performance," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 91(1), pages 68-84, March.
    5. Chen, Chaoran, 2020. "Capital-skill complementarity, sectoral labor productivity, and structural transformation," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Investment-specific technical change; Multi-sector growth models; Structural transformation; Capital goods prices;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O11 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

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