Author(s):	Jesper Lindé
Publication Date:	January 2005
Keyword(s):	hours worked per capita, labour productivity, permanent technology shocks, real business cycle model, vector autoregressions
JEL(s):	E24, E32
Programme Areas:	International Macroeconomics
Link to this Page:	cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=4827

Recent work on the effects of permanent technology shocks argue that the basic RBC model cannot account for a negative correlation between hours worked and labour productivity. In this Paper, I show that this conjecture is not necessarily correct. In the basic RBC model, I find that hours worked fall and labour productivity rises after a positive permanent technology shock once one allows for the possibility that the process for the permanent technology shock is persistent in growth rates. A more serious limitation of the RBC model is its inability to generate a persistent rise in hours worked after a positive permanent technology shock along with a rise in labour productivity that are in line with what the data suggests.