The aim of this paper is to test formally the classical business cycle hypothesis, using data from industrialized countries for the time period since 1960. The hypothesis is characterized by the view that the cyclical structure in GDP is concentrated in the investment series: xed investment has typically a long cycle, while the cycle in inventory investment is shorter. To check the robustness o...

Aggregate productivity falls in recessions and rises in expansions. Several empirical studies suggest that the systematic behavior of lending standards, with laxer (tighter) standards applied during expansions (recessions), is responsible for reverting trends in aggregate productivity. We build a dynamic model that rationalizes these findings. Higher liquidity brought about by high levels of ca...

This paper documents the dynamic properties of national output, its components, and the current account for five OECD countries. There is strong evidence of conditional volatility for almost all time series as well as significant deviations from normality. The deviations are detected particularly in GDP, net exports, investment time series. JEL Codes: