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Fixed Capital Adjustment: Is Latin America Different?

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  • R. Gaston Gelos
  • Alberto Isgut

Abstract

We examine capital adjustment patterns using two large and largely novel plant-level data sets from the manufacturing sectors of Colombia and Mexico. The data suggest that irreversibilities play a more important role than in more-advanced economies. However, we do not find support for the presence of increasing returns in the adjustment cost technology, such as arising from fixed costs. Firms go through periods of inaction and rarely sell capital, but they do not invest at discrete times only. An examination of the dynamic patterns of adjustment of factors differing in their flexibility supports this interpretation. © 2001 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Suggested Citation

  • R. Gaston Gelos & Alberto Isgut, 2001. "Fixed Capital Adjustment: Is Latin America Different?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 83(4), pages 717-726, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:tpr:restat:v:83:y:2001:i:4:p:717-726
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    Cited by:

    1. José Varejão & Pedro Portugal, 2007. "Employment Dynamics and the Structure of Labor Adjustment Costs," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 25(1), pages 137-165.
    2. Del Boca, Alessandra & Galeotti, Marzio & Rota, Paola, 2008. "Non-convexities in the adjustment of different capital inputs: A firm-level investigation," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(2), pages 315-337, February.
    3. Bernabe Lopez‐Martin, 2022. "Firm Export Dynamics And The Exchange Rate: A Quantitative Exploration," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 63(3), pages 1137-1163, August.
    4. Fabio Verona, 2014. "Investment Dynamics with Information Costs," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 46(8), pages 1627-1656, December.
    5. Konstantinos Drakos & Dimitris Tsouknidis, 2024. "Investment under uncertainty and irreversibility: Evidence from the shipping markets," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(2), pages 2139-2154, April.
    6. Marcela Eslava & John Haltiwanger & Adriana Kugler & Maurice Kugler, 2010. "Factor Adjustments after Deregulation: Panel Evidence from Colombian Plants," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 92(2), pages 378-391, May.
    7. Diego Comin & Norman Loayza & Farooq Pasha & Luis Serven, 2014. "Medium Term Business Cycles in Developing Countries," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 6(4), pages 209-245, October.
    8. Roys, Nicolas, 2014. "Optimal investment policy with fixed adjustment costs and complete irreversibility," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 124(3), pages 416-419.
    9. Sandra Martina Leitner, 2008. "Interrelatedness, Dynamic Factor Adjustment Patterns and Firm Heterogeneity in Austrian Manufacturing," Economics working papers 2008-03, Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.
    10. Fabio Verona, 2014. "Investment Dynamics with Information Costs," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 46(8), pages 1627-1656, December.
    11. Alejandro Riaño, 2011. "Exports, investment and firm-level sales volatility," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 147(4), pages 643-663, November.
    12. Baja Daza, Gover & Fernández Tellería, Bernardo X. & Zavaleta Castellón, David, 2014. "Diminishing commodity prices and capital flight in a dutch disease and resource curse environment: The case of Bolivia," MPRA Paper 75702, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Dec 2014.
    13. Julian Fennema & Wilko Letterie & Gerard Pfann, 2006. "The Timing of Investment Episodes in the Netherlands," De Economist, Springer, vol. 154(3), pages 373-388, September.
    14. repec:zbw:bofrdp:2013_018 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Timothy Dunne & Xiaoyi Mu, 2010. "Investment Spikes And Uncertainty In The Petroleum Refining Industry," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(1), pages 190-213, March.
    16. Carlos José Peña Parra, 2013. "Incertidumbre, gobernabilidad y crecimiento económico. Venezuela 1968-2010," Revista de Economía Institucional, Universidad Externado de Colombia - Facultad de Economía, vol. 15(28), pages 313-331, January-J.
    17. Ramirez Verdugo, Arturo, 2005. "Tax Incentives and Business Investment: New Evidence from Mexico," MPRA Paper 2272, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 04 Oct 2006.
    18. Patrik Gustavsson Tingvall & Patrik Karpaty, 2011. "Service-sector competition, innovation and R&D," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(1), pages 63-88.
    19. Pinar Geylani, 2015. "Lumpy investments and capital adjustment patterns in the food manufacturing industry," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 39(3), pages 501-517, July.
    20. Domenico Lombardi & Stephen Bond, 2004. "To Buy or Not to Buy? Uncertainty, Irreversibility and Heterogeneous Investment Dynamics in Italian Company Data," IMF Working Papers 2004/104, International Monetary Fund.
    21. Tingvall, Patrik, 2011. "Dynamic Effects of Corruption on Offshoring," Ratio Working Papers 182, The Ratio Institute.
    22. Konstantinos Drakos, 2012. "Extent and intensity of investment with multiple capital goods," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(22), pages 2799-2810, August.
    23. Alejandro Riaño, 2010. "The Decision to Export and the Volatility of Sales," Discussion Papers 10/12, University of Nottingham, GEP.

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