Narrow Your Choices

Refine By Countries

Refine By Series

Refine By Language

Refine By Date

—

Refine By IMF Taxonomy

Refine By JEL Taxonomy

Refine by LOC Taxonomy

Refine By THEMA Taxonomy

  • Print
  • Save

Business and Economics > Investments: Stocks

You are looking at 1 - 10 of 31 items for :

  • Type: Journal Issue x
  • Labor Economics: General x
Clear All Modify Search
Cover IMF Working Papers
On the Substitution of Private and Public Capital in Production
Zidong An
,
Mr. Alvar Kangur
, and
Mr. Chris Papageorgiou
Most macroeconomic models assume that aggregate output is generated by a specification for the production function with total physical capital as a key input. Implicitly this assumes that private and public capital stocks are perfect substitutes. In this paper we test this assumption by estimating a nested-CES production function whereas the two types of capital are considered separately along with labor as inputs. The estimation is based on our newly developed dataset on public and private capital stocks for 151 countries over a period of 1960-2014 consistent with Penn World Table version 9. We find evidence against perfect substitutability between public and private capital, especially for emerging and LIDCs, with the point estimate of the elasticity of substitution estimated closely around 3.
Keywords:
WP; production function; public capital; private capital; elasticity of substitution; substitution parameter; approximation method; point estimate; estimation result; confidence interval; coefficient estimate; Stocks; Public investment and public-private partnerships (PPP); Private investment; Human capital; Global
Cover IMF Working Papers
Technological Changes, Offshoring, and the Labor Share
Weicheng Lian
Existing studies on the downward trend in the labor share of income mostly focus on changes within individual countries. I document, however, that half of the global decline in the labor share of income can be traced to the relocation of activities between countries. I develop a two-country model to show that when the relative price of investment goods falls, production activities with a small elasticity of substitution between capital and labor tend to get offshored from high- to low-wage countries. The model provides an explanation as to why such relocation may drive the labor share down in both developed and developing economies, as well as globally.
Keywords:
WP; elasticity of substitution; cost of capital; Labor Share; Offshoring; Technological Changes; Relative Cost of Capital; investment goods; goods trade; capital-labor elasticity; labor cost share; Manufacturing; Wages; Stocks; Global; offshoring proxy; micro elasticity
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
France: Selected Issues
International Monetary Fund. European Dept.
This Selected Issues paper focuses on various aspects of corporate debt in France. The increase in debt has financed real investments, as well as acquisition of financial assets and extension of intercompany loans. The increase in debt (and its level) appears less worrisome when debt is consolidated among nonfinancial corporations. Despite the increase in the stock of debt, debt service has increased moderately. A cross-country regression analysis reveals that French publicly listed firms are on average not more indebted and have not increased their debt more than peers in other countries, after controlling for firm and sector characteristics as well as common time effects. However, the increase in debt is concentrated among large firms with sizeable leverage in a few industries, raising questions about these firms’ ability to service this debt when interest rates rise. Stress test scenarios of a large and sudden increase in interest rates suggest that corporate debt at risk could be significant at a macroeconomic level, but that cash buffers would mitigate the impact of the shock on debt service.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; firm; government; debt stock; training; firm level; railway company; macron government; utility company; state innovation; government plan; Bonds; Stocks; Currencies; Global
Cover IMF Working Papers
The Financing of Ideas and the Great Deviation
Mr. Daniel Garcia-Macia
Why did the Great Recession lead to such a slow recovery? I build a model where heterogeneous firms invest in physical and intangible capital, and can default on their debt. In case of default, intangible assets are harder to seize by creditors. Hence, intangible capital faces higher financing costs. This differential is exacerbated in a financial crisis, when default is more likely and aggregate risk bears a higher premium. The resulting fall in intangible investment amplifies the crisis, and gradual intangible spillovers to other firms contribute to its persistence. Using panel data on Spanish manufacturing firms, I estimate the model matching firm-level moments regarding intangibles and financing. The model captures the extent and components of the Great Recession in Spanish manufacturing, whereas a standard model without endogenous intangible investment would miss more than half of the GDP fall. A policy of transfers conditional on firm age could speed up the recovery, as young firms tend to be more financially constrained, particularly regarding intangible investment. Conditioning transfers on firm size or subsidizing credit (as in current E.U. policy) appears to be less effective.
Keywords:
WP; physical capital; repayment rate; financial crises; intangible capital; heterogeneous firms; endogenous default; firm life-cycle pattern; life-cycle growth; intangible investment; firm owner; exit rate; firms decision; firm financing; constrained firm; firm exit; firm level; exited firm; Depreciation; Stocks; Global financial crisis of 2008-2009; Global; Europe
Cover IMF Working Papers
Extensive Margin Adjustment of Multi-Product Firm and Risk Diversification
Carlos Carvalho
,
Mr. Gee Hee Hong
, and
Jing Zhou
Product scope adjustment is a key mechanism through which multi-product firms achieve efficient resource allocations. In this paper, we take a novel perspective to study firms’ product scope adjustment behavior through the lens of asset pricing. Using a unique panel scanner data set containing detailed information on products, matched with the financial information of their manufacturers, we find that multi-product firms with higher product turnover have lower financial risks and lower risk premia. To understand this channel, we propose a stylized model with a time-dependent (Calvo-type) product turnover rate to highlight the ’risk absorption channel’ of product scope adjustment. In response to an economy-wide shock, a firm that can adjust its product scope more flexibly shows lower excess equity returns and lower asset volatility.
Keywords:
WP; mi mathcolor; product scope; substitution effect; multi-product firms; risk diversification; firm dynamics; destruction rate; margin adjustment; creation rate; multi-product firm; Consumption; Asset prices; Stocks; Income
Cover IMF Working Papers
Efficiency-Adjusted Public Capital and Growth
Mr. Sanjeev Gupta
,
Mr. Alvar Kangur
,
Mr. Abdoul A Wane
, and
Mr. Chris Papageorgiou
This paper constructs an efficiency-adjusted public capital stock series and re-examines the public capital and growth relationship for 52 developing countries. The results show that public capital is a significant contributor to economic growth. Although the estimated coefficient for the income share of public capital is larger in middle- than in low-income countries, the opposite is true for the marginal product of public capital. The quality of public investment, as measured by variables capturing the adequacy of project selection and implementation, are statistically significant in explaining variations in economic growth, a result mainly driven by low-income countries.
Keywords:
WP; production function; public capital; Public capital stock; public investment efficiency; appraisal; selection; implementation; evaluation of public investment; growth accounting; investment process; ICRG investment profile; process carry; investment effort; management process; Public investment spending; Stocks; Capital productivity; Estimation techniques
Cover IMF Working Papers
Dynamic Factor Price Equalization & International Income Convergence
Mr. Clinton R. Shiells
and
Joseph F. Francois
The paper develops a tractable way to incorporate the micro structure of dual models of international trade into a standard class of dynamic open-economy macro models. In the process, it develops the concept of a dynamic factor price equalization set and an integrated intertemporal equilibrium. A number of results are obtained concerning trade, growth, and income convergence. Countries with higher capital/labor ratios may stay wealthier over time, both in the transition and in the new steady state. Real shocks in one country will be transmitted to the other country through the factor markets and traded goods prices.
Keywords:
WP; capital stock
Cover IMF Working Papers
The Impact of Public Capital, Human Capital, and Knowledge on Aggregate Output
Mr. Frederick L Joutz
and
Mr. Yasser Abdih
This paper investigates the impact of public capital on private sector output by testing and estimating an aggregate production function for the U.S. economy over the postwar period augmented to include the stock of public capital as an additional factor input. We use patent applications to proxy for knowledge/technology stocks and adjust labor hours for changes in human capital or skill. Using Johansen's (1988 and 1991) multivariate cointegration analysis, we find a positive and significant long run effect of public capital, private capital, skilladjusted labor, and technology/ knowledge on private sector output. We find that public capital accounts for about half of the post-1973 productivity slowdown, but only plays a minor role in the partial recovery of labor productivity growth since the mid 1980s. The largest contribution to that (partial) recovery comes from the knowledge stock and human capital.
Keywords:
WP; null hypothesis; capital stock; constant returns to scale
Cover IMF Working Papers
Portfolio Choice in a Monetary Open-Economy DSGE Model
Mr. Akito Matsumoto
and
Mr. Charles Engel
This paper develops a two-country monetary DSGE (dynamic stochastic general equilibrium) model in which households choose a portfolio of home and foreign equities, and a forward position in foreign exchange. Some goods prices are set without full information of the state. Home and foreign portfolios are not identical in equilibrium. In response to technology shocks, sticky prices generate a negative correlation between labor income and the profits of domestic firms, biasing portfolios in favor of home equities. In contrast, under flexible prices, labor income and the profits of the domestic firms are positively correlated.
Keywords:
WP; optimal portfolio
Cover IMF Working Papers
R&D, Innovation, and Economic Growth: An Empirical Analysis
Hulya Ulku
This paper investigates the main postulations of the R&D based growth models that innovation is created in the R&D sectors and it enables sustainable economic growth, provided that there are constant returns to innovation in terms of R&D. The analysis employs various panel data techniques and uses patent and R&D data for 20 OECD and 10 Non-OECD countries for the period 1981–97. The results suggest a positive relationship between per capita GDP and innovation in both OECD and non-OECD countries, while the effect of R&D stock on innovation is significant only in the OECD countries with large markets. Although these results provide support for endogenous growth models, there is no evidence for constant returns to innovation in terms of R&D, implying that innovation does not lead to permanent increases in economic growth. However, these results do not necessarily suggest a rejection of R&D based growth models, given that neither patent nor R&D data capture the full range of innovation and R&D activities.
Keywords:
WP; OECD country; regression analysis; country risk; low income