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Cyclical Patterns in Japanese Manufacturing Firms: Analyzing Three Post- Keynesian Models

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Abstract

This paper examines cyclical patterns of employment, capacity utilization, and profit share in Japanese manufacturing companies during 1978–2007. It evaluates significant behavioral equations to determine whether year-specific and trend data confirm three notable post-Keynesian macroeconomic models: the Kaldorian, the Robinsonian, and the Kaleckian. Some stylized facts about relationships among bivariate variables are presented. Results of the output growth equation on employment and profit share are statistically significant, and the signs are consistent with the Kaldorian model. Conversely, the Robinsonian and Kaleckian price adjustment models are not supported, while results of the investment function do not support the Kaleckian model.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Economics, Nagoya Gakuin University, 1-25 Atsuta-nishi-machi, Atsuta-ku, Nagoya-city, Aichi, 456-0036, Japan

    Taro Abe

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  1. Taro Abe
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Correspondence to Taro Abe.

Additional information

1) This paper was written while the author was a visiting scholar at UMass Amherst. He is deeply grateful to Michael Ash, Nicole Dunham, Peter Skott, and the staff and graduate students for their hospitality. The author also thanks Takeshi Nakatani, Yasuyuki Osumi, participants in a seminar at the University of Hyogo, two referees and the editor of this journal for their valuable comments.

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Abe, T. Cyclical Patterns in Japanese Manufacturing Firms: Analyzing Three Post- Keynesian Models. Evolut Inst Econ Rev 11, 1–18 (2014). https://doi.org/10.14441/eier.110101

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.14441/eier.110101

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