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Interest Rates and Backward-Bending Investment

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  • Raj Chetty

Abstract

This paper studies the effect of interest rates on investment in an environment where firms make irreversible investments and learn over time. In this setting, changes in the interest rate affect both the cost of capital and the cost of delaying investment. These two forces combine to generate an aggregate investment demand curve that is always a backward-bending function of the interest rate. At low rates, increasing the interest rate stimulates investment by raising the cost of delay. Existing evidence supports the hypothesis that firms change the time at which they invest in response to changes in interest rates. The model also generates a rich set of additional predictions that can be tested empirically.

Suggested Citation

  • Raj Chetty, 2004. "Interest Rates and Backward-Bending Investment," NBER Working Papers 10354, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:10354
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    Cited by:

    1. Boyan Jovanovic & Peter L. Rousseau, 2004. "Interest Rates and Initial Public Offerings," NBER Working Papers 10298, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Shabnam Sazma Bano, 2018. "The Dynamic Relationship between Real Interest Rate and Investment: An Empirical Analysis for Selected Pacific Island Countries," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 8(5), pages 131-141.
    3. Twine, Edgar E. & Kiiza, Barnabas & Bashaasha, Bernard, 2015. "The Flexible Accelerator Model of Investment: An Application to Ugandan Tea- Processing Firms," African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, African Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 10(01), pages 1-15, March.
    4. Mr. Shaun K. Roache, 2006. "Domestic Investment and the Cost of Capital in the Caribbean," IMF Working Papers 2006/152, International Monetary Fund.
    5. Andrea Beccarini, 2007. "Investment sensitivity to interest rates in an uncertain context: is a positive relationship possible?," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 40(3), pages 223-234, September.
    6. Shaun K. Roache, 2006. "Domestic Investment and the Cost of Capital in the Caribbean," Applied Econometrics and International Development, Euro-American Association of Economic Development, vol. 6(3).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • D92 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Intertemporal Firm Choice, Investment, Capacity, and Financing

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