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Economic Measurement of Capital and Profitability

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 August 2016

Francisco Javier Escribá-Pérez  and
José Ramón Ruiz-Tamarit
Francisco Javier Escribá-Pérez
Affiliation:
Universitat de València
José Ramón Ruiz-Tamarit
Affiliation:
Universitat de València & Université Catholique de Louvain
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Summary

In this paper, we intend to offer a critical review of the different concepts of capital and the different methods which are used to measure it. At the same time, we propose an endogenous approach which tries to measure the capital stock in terms of value, explicitly referring to depreciation as an economic variable decided by the firm. Applying this procedure to the Spanish macroeconomic data, we observe a big capital destruction since the mid-seventies which is not mentioned in official statistics.

Résumé

Résumé

Dans cet article nous entendons passer en revue les différents concepts de capital et les différentes méthodes utilisées pour le mesurer. Nous proposons une approche endogène pour essayer de le mesurer en terme de valeur en considérant, de manière explicite, la dépréciation comme une variable choisie par les firmes. En appliquant cette procédure aux données macroéconomiques espagnoles, on observe une importante destruction du capital, depuis le milieu des années septante, qui n’est pas mentionnée dans les statistiques.

Keywords

E22.E22.
Type
Research Article
Information
Recherches Économiques de Louvain/ Louvain Economic Review , Volume 61 , Issue 4 , 1995 , pp. 433 - 459
Copyright
Copyright © Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de recherches économiques et sociales 1995 

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Footnotes

(*)

This text presents research results of the Belgian Programme on Interuniversity Poles of Attraction initiated by the Belgian State, Prime Minister’s Office, Science Policy Programming; as well as of the Human Capital and Mobility Programme: “The economic analysis of institutional and structural change as an integrated dynamic process. A computable economics approach”, European Commission, contract ERBCHRXCT930231. Financial support from the Dirección General de Investigación Científica y Técnica (DGICYT), Spanish Ministry of Education and Science, is gratefully acknowledged. We also thanks the comments of two anonymous referees.

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