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Capital Adjustment Patterns in Swedish Manufacturing Firms: What Model Do They Suggest?

Author

Listed:
  • Carlsson, Mikael

    (Department of Economics)

  • Laséen, Stefan

    (Monetary Policy Department, Central Bank of Sweden)

Abstract

In this paper we study the capital adjustment process in Swedish manufacturing firms and relate the empirical findings to standard models of firm behavior in the presence of impediments to capital adjustments. We find that (i) an S,s model fits the data well in some, but not all, dimensions. (ii) A model with irreversible capital goes a long way in capturing the salient features of firm-level capital adjustment behavior. (iii) The partial adjustment model generally fails to explain capital adjustment patterns. (iv) The capital accumulation process is a highly volatile and non-persistent process on the firm-level. (v) Firms’ adjustment behavior is asymmetric in that they are more likely to tolerate excess capital than shortages of capital, and, finally, (vi) the estimated adjustment function implies that aggregate investment is relatively unresponsive to aggregate shocks in deep recessions as compared to normal times.

Suggested Citation

  • Carlsson, Mikael & Laséen, Stefan, 2002. "Capital Adjustment Patterns in Swedish Manufacturing Firms: What Model Do They Suggest?," Working Paper Series 143, Sveriges Riksbank (Central Bank of Sweden).
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:rbnkwp:0143
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Fabio Verona, 2014. "Investment Dynamics with Information Costs," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 46(8), pages 1627-1656, December.
    2. Fabio Pieri, 2015. "Vertical organization of production and firm growth behavior," Working Papers 1508, Department of Applied Economics II, Universidad de Valencia.
    3. Fabio Pieri, 2018. "Vertical organization of production and firm growth," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 27(1), pages 83-106.
    4. Øivind A. Nilsen & Arvid Raknerud & Marina Rybalka & Terje Skjerpen, 2005. "Lumpy Investments, Factor Adjustments and Productivity," Discussion Papers 441, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    5. Lundin, Magnus & Gottfries, Nils & Lindström, Tomas, 2004. "Price and Investment Dynamics: An Empirical Analysis of Plant Level Data," Working Paper Series 2004:7, Uppsala University, Department of Economics.
    6. 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.
    7. Marco Grazzi & Nadia Jacoby & Tania Treibich, 2013. "Dynamics of Investment and Firm Performance: Comparative Evidence from Manufacturing Industries," GREDEG Working Papers 2013-09, Groupe de REcherche en Droit, Economie, Gestion (GREDEG CNRS), Université Côte d'Azur, France.
    8. Bayer, Christian, 2008. "On the interaction of financial frictions and fixed capital adjustment costs: Evidence from a panel of German firms," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 32(11), pages 3538-3559, November.
    9. Magnus Lundin & Nils Gottfries & Charlotte Bucht & Tomas Lindström, 2009. "Price and Investment Dynamics: Theory and Plant‐Level Data," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 41(5), pages 907-934, August.
    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. Mikael Carlsson, 2007. "Investment and Uncertainty: A Theory‐based Empirical Approach," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 69(5), pages 603-617, October.
    12. Tomat, Gian Maria, 2008. "Modeling the Effects of Financial Constraints on Firm's Investment," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 2, pages 1-26.
    13. Schulte, Reinhard, 2015. "On real investment by new ventures," Lüneburger Beiträge zur Gründungsforschung 12, Leuphana University of Lüneburg, Department of Entrepreneurship & Start-up Management.
    14. Øivind A. Nilsen & Arvid Raknerud & Marina Rybalka & Terje Skjerpen, 2009. "Lumpy investments, factor adjustments, and labour productivity," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 61(1), pages 104-127, January.
    15. 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.
    16. repec:zbw:bofrdp:2013_018 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. 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.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Investment; Irreversibilities; Lumpiness; Manufacturing;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • E22 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Investment; Capital; Intangible Capital; Capacity
    • L60 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - General

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