Lumpy Investment, Business Cycles, and Stimulus Policy

I study the aggregate implications of micro-level lumpy investment in a model consistent with the empirical dynamics of the real interest rate. The elasticity of aggregate investment with respect to shocks is procyclical because more firms are likely to make an extensive margin investment in expansions than in recessions. Matching the dynamics of the real interest rate is key to generating this result because it disciplines the interest-elasticity of investment and avoids counterfactual behavior of the model that would otherwise eliminate most of the procyclical responsiveness. Therefore, data on interest rates place important discipline in aggregating micro-level investment behavior. (JEL D25, E13, E22, E23, E43, G31, H25)

Agency costs and the monetary transmission mechanism

Once New Keynesian (NK) theory is combined with a standard model of lumpy investment, the resulting framework loses its ability to generate a realistic monetary transmission mechanism. This is the puzzle uncovered in Reiter, Sveen, and Weinke [Reiter, M., T. Sveen, and L. Weinke. 2013. “Lumpy Investment and the Monetary Transmission Mechanism.” Journal of Monetary Economics 60: 821–834.]. The simple economic reason behind it is the unrealistically large interest rate elasticity of investment, as implied by the standard theory of lumpy investment. In order to address this puzzle we develop a NK model featuring fully flexible investment combined with a financial friction. This model is used to isolate the quantitative importance of the financial friction for the monetary transmission mechanism.