On the “utilisation controversy”: a comment

Santiago Gahn () and Alejandro González
Additional contact information
Santiago Gahn: Niccolò Cusano University (IT)

No PKWP1814, Working Papers from Post Keynesian Economics Society (PKES)

Abstract: In a recent contribution, Nikiforos (2016) has claimed that the FED data on capacity utilisation is stationary by construction, and thus, not suitable to test the Neo-Kaleckian model. He then proceeds to provide new series on capital utilisation, which he claims are non-stationary and provide, supposedly, support for the Neo-Kaleckian model. This comment presents two interrelated claims. First, the measurement error that Nikiforos claims to be I(1) in the FED series is I(0), and what is measured with error is only the level of the series. Thus, this series is suitable to test the Neo-Kaleckian model. Secondly, he does not provide unit root tests for the series he suggests as superior to the FED. When this exercise is carried out, almost all unit root tests decidedly reject the existence of a stochastic trend on his 3 proposed series, which, according to the author, do not lend support to the Neo-Kaleckian model. We conclude that measures of capacity utilisation based on FRB data are a reasonable source to test the implications of a wide variety of macroeconomic models.

Keywords: Neo-Kaleckian model; Capacity Utilisation; Stationarity; Workweek of Capital (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C22 E11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 6
Date: 2018-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-mac and nep-pke
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://postkeynesian.net/media/working-papers/PKWP1814.pdf First version, 2018 (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: On the ‘utilisation controversy’: a comment (2020)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pke:wpaper:pkwp1814

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Working Papers from Post Keynesian Economics Society (PKES) Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Jo Michell ().