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Hysteresis in the normal rate of capacity utilization: a behavioural explanation

Author

Listed:
  • Mark Setterfield

    (Department of Economics, New School for Social Research)

  • Joana David Avritzer

    (Department of Economics, New School for Social Research)

Abstract
Kaleckians describe a normal rate of capacity utilization that is subject to hysteresis effects. This means that the normal rate varies directly with the actual rate of capacity utilization, ensuring that steady-state equilibrium conditions in the Kaleckian model are fully adjusted (the actual and normal rates of capacity utilization are equalized) but without this last condition implying that the rate of capacity utilization is constant in the long run. The relationship between distribution and growth unique to the Kaleckian model is thus preserved. The hysteresis mechanism has been criticized from various quarters, however, these criticisms focusing on its alleged lack of behavioural foundations. This paper shows that consistent with the stylized facts, variation in the normal rate of capacity utilization in response to variation in the actual capacity utilization rate can be derived from the links between both variables and the volatility of the macroeconomic environment - volatility, in the presence of fundamental uncertainty, being an important reason why firms deliberately under-utilize capacity (even in the long run) in the first place. The result is an empirically-grounded behavioural foundation for hysteresis in the normal rate of capacity utilization.

Suggested Citation

  • Mark Setterfield & Joana David Avritzer, 2019. "Hysteresis in the normal rate of capacity utilization: a behavioural explanation," Working Papers 1907, New School for Social Research, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:new:wpaper:1907
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Lorenzo Di Domenico, 2021. "Multiplicity and not necessarily heterogeneity: implications for the long-run degree of capacity utilization," Working Papers PKWP2116, Post Keynesian Economics Society (PKES).
    2. Santiago J. Gahn, 2022. "Towards an explanation of a declining trend in capacity utilisation in the US economy," Working Papers PKWP2214, Post Keynesian Economics Society (PKES).
    3. Bassi, Federico & Bauermann, Tom & Lang, Dany & Setterfield, Mark, 2022. "Is capacity utilization variable in the long run? An agent-based sectoral approach to modeling hysteresis in the normal rate of capacity utilization," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 196-212.
    4. Santiago J. Gahn, 2020. "Is there a decreasing trend in capacity utilisation in the US economy? Some new evidence," Working Papers PKWP2006, Post Keynesian Economics Society (PKES).
    5. Daniele Tavani & Luke Petach, 2021. "Firm beliefs and long-run demand effects in a labor-constrained model of growth and distribution," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 31(2), pages 353-377, April.
    6. Mark Setterfield, 2019. "Tolerable ranges of variation in the rate of capacity utilization and corridor instability: a reply to Florian Botte," Working Papers 1905, New School for Social Research, Department of Economics.
    7. Michalis Nikiforos, 2023. "Notes on the accumulation and utilization of capital: Some theoretical issues," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 74(1), pages 223-247, February.
    8. Zachary Knauss, 2024. "Exploring the Profit-Investment Puzzle: A Post-Keynesian Analysis of Market Concentration and Stagnation," Working Papers 2409, New School for Social Research, Department of Economics.
    9. Guilherme Haluska & Julia Braga & Ricardo Summa, 2021. "Growth, investment share and the stability of the Sraffian Supermultiplier model in the U.S. economy (1985–2017)," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 72(2), pages 345-364, May.
    10. Mark Setterfield, 2021. "Harrodians and Kaleckians: a suggested reconciliation and synthesis," Working Papers 2111, New School for Social Research, Department of Economics, revised Jan 2022.
    11. Michalis Nikiforos, 2021. "Notes on the accumulation and utilization of capital: Some empirical issues," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 72(4), pages 679-695, November.
    12. de Oliveira, Guilherme, 2023. "On the utilization controversy in the demand-led growth literature: A quantile unit root approach," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Normal rate of capacity utilization; Harrodian instability; hysteresis; Kaleckian growth theory;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E11 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models - - - Marxian; Sraffian; Kaleckian
    • E12 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models - - - Keynes; Keynesian; Post-Keynesian; Modern Monetary Theory
    • O41 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - One, Two, and Multisector Growth Models

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