Investment options and the business cycle

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Jovanovic, Boyan
• 署名单位: New York University
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC THEORY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-0531
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jet.2008.05.003
• 发表日期: 2009
• 页码: 2247-2265
• 关键词: Tobin's Q; adjustment costs; intertemporal substitution

摘要

This paper extends [R. Mehra, E.C. Prescott, Recursive competitive equilibrium: The case of homogeneous households, Econometrica 48 (1980) 1365-1380] to a production economy with two capital goods. It is an RBC model in which each unit of investment requires a new idea, an 'option.' When options are scarce, new capital is harder to put in place and the value of old capital rises. Thus the stock market and Tobin's Q are negative indexes of intangibles. During a boom, Q rises gradually, as options are used up. Because investment represents an exercise of options, it has an intertemporal substitution tradeoff that is absent from the adjustment-cost model. Equilibrium may be efficient even without markets for knowledge; the stock market may suffice. (C) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.