Microeconomic Inventory Adjustment: Evidence from U.S. Firm-Level Data

摘要

We examine inventory adjustment in the U.S. manufacturing sector using quarterlyfirm-level data over the period 1978-97. Our evidence indicates that the inventory investment process is nonlinear and asymmetric, results consistent with a nonconvex adjustment costers over the business cycle: for a given level of excess inventories, firms disinvest more in recessions than they do in expansions. The inventory adjustment process has changed little between the 1980s and 1990s, suggesting thatect on adjustment costs. Nevertheless, the optimal inventory-sales ratio in the durable goods sector has declined signicantly during our sample period.