General Equilibrium Vintage Capital Growth Models Displaying Periodic Solutions : A Theoretical Example

In a dynamic general equilibrium setup, this paper highlights the role of vintages and creative destruction in business fluctuations. By stressing the forward-looking characteristic of the optimal scrapping rule, we use a standard rational expectations argument to show the constancy of the scrapping function in a linear utility function framework. Secondly, we prove that equilibrium output shows a purely periodic behavior around an exponential growth trend, the pattern of the cycle being determined by the pattern of initial conditions. Actually, this paper points at the so-called echoe effects as a relevant economic fluctuations source, an issue rather neglected by theorists since the publication of Solow et alii (1966) seminal paper.