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Optimal Capital Accumulation, Energy Cost and the Nature of Technological Progress

Author

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  • Raouf BOUCEKKINE

    (UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES))

  • Aude POMMERET

    (UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES))

Abstract

This paper derives the optimal pace of capital accumulation at the firm level and the corresponding investment dynamics in the presence of an energy-saving technological progress. Energy and capital are complementary. When technical progress is disembodied, the firm invests once at the first period and never invests again. The optimal capital stock is a decreasing function of the energy price. When technical progress is embodied, the optimal scrapping time of capital goods is constant and investment is periodic. The optimal effective capital stock is shown to be lower than the optimal capital stock under disembodied technical change. A striking outcome of the paper is that under embodiment, the optimal effective capital stock is an increasing function of the energy cost, in contrast to the disembodiment case

Suggested Citation

  • Raouf BOUCEKKINE & Aude POMMERET, 2000. "Optimal Capital Accumulation, Energy Cost and the Nature of Technological Progress," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 2001023, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
    • Handle: RePEc:ctl:louvir:2001023
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    File URL: http://sites.uclouvain.be/econ/DP/IRES/2001-23.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Malcomson, James M., 1975. "Replacement and the rental value of capital equipment subject to obsolescence," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 24-41, February.
    2. Boucekkine, Raouf & Germain, Marc & Licandro, Omar & Magnus, Alphonse, 1998. "Creative Destruction, Investment Volatility, and the Average Age of Capital," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 3(4), pages 361-384, December.
    3. Greenwood, Jeremy & Yorukoglu, Mehmet, 1997. "1974," Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 49-95, June.
      • Greenwood, J. & Yorukoglu, M., 1996. "1974," RCER Working Papers 429, University of Rochester - Center for Economic Research (RCER).
    4. Raouf Boucekkine & David de la Croix & Omar Licandro, 2006. "Vintage Capital," Economics Working Papers ECO2006/8, European University Institute.
    5. Boucekkine, Raouf & Germain, Marc & Licandro, Omar, 1997. "Replacement Echoes in the Vintage Capital Growth Model," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 74(2), pages 333-348, June.
    6. Martin Neil Baily, 1981. "Productivity and the Services of Capital and Labor," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 12(1), pages 1-66.
    7. Philippe Aghion & Peter Howitt, 1994. "Growth and Unemployment," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 61(3), pages 477-494.
    8. Dixit, Avinash K & Stiglitz, Joseph E, 1977. "Monopolistic Competition and Optimum Product Diversity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 67(3), pages 297-308, June.
    9. Cooley, Thomas F. & Greenwood, Jeremy & Yorukoglu, Mehmet, 1997. "The replacement problem," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 457-499, December.
    10. Ricardo J. Caballero & Mohamad L. Hammour, 1996. "On the Timing and Efficiency of Creative Destruction," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 111(3), pages 805-852.
    11. BOUCEKKINE, Raouf & GERMAIN, Marc & LICANDRO, Omar, 1996. "General Equilibrium Vintage Capital Growth Models Displaying Periodic Solutions : A Theoretical Example," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 1996032, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    12. Benhabib, Jess & Rustichini, Aldo, 1991. "Vintage capital, investment, and growth," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 55(2), pages 323-339, December.
    13. repec:cor:louvrp:-1376 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Pindyck, Robert S, 1988. "Irreversible Investment, Capacity Choice, and the Value of the Firm," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 78(5), pages 969-985, December.
    15. 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.
    16. Mark E. Doms & Timothy Dunne, 1998. "Capital Adjustment Patterns in Manufacturing Plants," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 1(2), pages 409-429, April.
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    Cited by:

    1. Bruno CRUZ & Aude POMMERET, 2003. "Subsidizing energy saving capital accumulation: a real option approach," Cahiers de Recherches Economiques du Département d'économie 03.14, Université de Lausanne, Faculté des HEC, Département d’économie.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Investment theory; Embodied technological progress; Energy; Investment dynamics;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E22 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Investment; Capital; Intangible Capital; Capacity
    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • O40 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - General
    • C63 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Computational Techniques

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