This paper argues that productivity puzzles like the Solow Paradox arise, in part, from the omission of an important dimension of the debate: the resource cost of achieving a given rate of technical change. A remedy is proposed in which a new parameter, defined as the cost elasticity of...

This paper estimates the micro-level costs of adjusting capital using detailed data onquot; investment decisions in the US airline industry. The data include the capital stock retirement, market values, operating costs, and utilization rates of 16 different types of capitalquot; goods for each...

Using data on the prices of capital goods, this paper shows that much of the benefit ofquot; investment tax incentives does not go to investing firms but rather to capital suppliers throughquot; higher prices. The reduction in the cost of capital from a 10 percent investment tax creditquot;...

Stock market prices, a measure of the marginal cost of installed capital, are procyclical. Yet, prices of investment goods, the main input into new installed capital, are countercyclical. We exploit this information to identify the driving forces of the business cycle and the nature of capital...

According to the Washington Consensus, developing countries? growth would benefit from a reduction in tariffs and other barriers to trade. But a backlash against this view now suggests that trade policies have little or no impact on growth. If quot;getting policies rightquot; is wrong or...

We argue that the input-output network of investment goods across sectors is an important propagation mechanism for understanding business cycles. First, we show that the empirical network is dominated by a few “investment hubs” that produce the majority of investment goods, are highly...

Corporate sectors in emerging markets have noticeably increased their reliance on foreign financing, presumably reflecting low global interest rates. The evidence also shows a rebalancing from bank loans towards bonds. To study these developments, we develop a dynamic open economy model where...

The cyclical behavior of the relative price of investment goods plays an important role in many modern macroeconomic models. In this paper we examine the behavior of several measures of the relative price of investment goods for the U.S. economy over the last fifty years. In particular, we...

Innovative activity is highly concentrated in a handful of advanced countries. These same countries are also the major exporters of capital goods to the rest of the world. We develop a model of trade in capital goods to assess its role spreading the benefits of technological advances. Applying...

This paper documents four basic facts about investment goods and investment prices. First, investment has a very significant nontradable component in the form of construction services. Second, distributions services (wholesaling, retailing, and transportation) are much less important for...