Real rigidities, productivity improvements and investment dynamics

The theoretical literature on business cycles predicts a positive investment response to productivity improvements, a prediction we question from theoretical and empirical perspectives. We show that a short-term negative response of investment to a positive technology shock is consistent with a reasonably parameterized new Keynesian dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model in which firm-specific capital introduces an additional real rigidity, and monetary policy is not fully accommodative. Employing Bayesian techniques, we provide evidence that permanent productivity improvements have short-term, contractionary effects on investment. Although this result can be obtained from both firm-specific and rental capital models, only in the case of the former is the average price duration in line with the microeconometric evidence.