Are Consumer Durables Important for Business Cycles?
构建两部门模型，发现耐用消费品部门的高波动一半源于冲击波动，一半源于内生反应（如投资加速器），但该模型内部传导机制不强，且耐用消费品对其他宏观变量影响不大。
This paper investigates whether consumer durables are important for the generation and propagation of business cycles. The author constructs a two-sector model that succeeds in generating business cycles that mimic empirical patterns of cross-sector volatility and comovement. She finds that half the relatively higher volatility associated with the durable-goods sector is due to higher volatility of shocks hitting this sector, with the other half due to endogenous responses, notably the investment accelerator. Nevertheless, this model does not have stronger internal propagation than the one-sector model. Further, incorporating durable consumer goods has little effect on the behavior of other macroeconomic variables. Copyright 1996 by MIT Press.