An Endogenously Derived AK-model of Economic Growth

Jensen, Christian (2013): An Endogenously Derived AK-model of Economic Growth.

Abstract

Assuming a production process with returns to scale that vary with the intensity it is operated at, an AK-model of endogenous growth with constant returns to scale in production is shown to arise due to replication driven by profit-maximization. If replication occurs at the efficiency-maximizing scale, the result applies also when the number of production processes must be discrete, thus overcoming the so-called integer problem. When competition is imperfect, there is only convergence toward the AK-model for large enough input use, so an economy is more prone to stalling in a steady-state without growth, the smaller and less competitive it is. Inefficient scaling also raises the risk of stalling.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Economic growth; AK-model; Replication; Returns to scale in production; Integer problem
• Subjects: O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O11 - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O4 - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity > O40 - General

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