Journal Article
A Nonparametric Panel Data Approach to the Cyclical Dynamics of Price-cost Margins in the Fourth Kondratieff Wave
By using nonparametric and panel data econometrics, this paper re-assesses the effect of both the current level of economic activity and of future expected demand on the dynamics of the price mark-up over marginal cost in US manufacturing industries from 1958 to 1996. Consistently with previous results, the current level of economic activity has a negative impact on the mark-up and expectations of future demand a positive one. Differences between consumer and producer goods and between more and less competitive sectors play a minor role. Differences between durable and non-durable goods, instead, find more empirical Support.
Key Words
- cyclical dynamics
- durable goods
- mark-up
- non-durable goods
- nonparametric econometrics
- panel data econometrics