Irreversibility, Uncertainty and Underemployment Equilibria

David de la Croix and Omar Licandro (licandro.omar@gmail.com)

No 1994028, LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES from Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES)

Abstract: In a competitive overlapping generation model, underutilization of labor and equipment can be due to the combinaison of irreversibility of human capital, physical capital and technology with idiosyncratic productivity shocks. Irreversibilities and uncertainty generate an inefficient allocation of resources among sectors, which takes the form of underemployment and underutilization of capacities at the aggregate level and affects the equilibrium path of capital. We provide examples in which this missallocation, called structural "mismatch", can be responsible, a.o., for an "inescapable poverty trap", or for periodic orbits generating endogenous fluctuations in underemployment.

Keywords: underemployment; underutilization; irreversibility; poverty trap; endogenous fluctuations (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D90 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 13
Date: 1993-11-01, Revised 1994-10
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Working Paper: Irreversibility, uncertainty and underemployment equilibria (1994)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ctl:louvir:1994028

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