The effects of irreversibility and uncertainty on capital accumulation

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Abel, AB; Eberly, JC
• 署名单位: Northwestern University; University of Pennsylvania; Harvard University; National Bureau of Economic Research
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF MONETARY ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-3932
• DOI: 10.1016/S0304-3932(99)00029-X
• 发表日期: 1999
• 页码: 339-377
• 关键词: investment; irreversibility; uncertainty

摘要

Irreversibility and uncertainty increase the user cost of capital which tends to reduce the capital stock. Working in the opposite direction is a hangover effect, which arises because irreversibility prevents the firm from selling capital even when the marginal revenue product of capital is low. Neither the user cost effect nor the hangover effect dominates globally, so that irreversibility may increase or decrease capital accumulation. Furthermore, an increase in uncertainty can either increase or decrease the long-run capital stock under irreversibility relative to that under reversibility. Other effects that we consider, however, have unambiguous effects on long-run capital accumulation. (C) 1999 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.