Animal Spirits Through Creative Destruction

S-Tier
Journal: American Economic Review
Year: 2003
Volume: 93
Issue: 3
Pages: 530-550

Score contribution per author:

4.022 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 4.0x S-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

We show how a Schumpeterian process of creative destruction can induce rational, herd behavior by entrepreneurs across diverse sectors as if fueled by "animal spirits." Consequently, a multisector economy, in which productivity improvements are made by independent, profit-seeking entrepreneurs, exhibits regular booms, slowdowns, and downturns as part of the long-run growth process. Our cyclical equilibrium has higher average growth, but lower welfare than the corresponding acyclical one. We show how a negative relationship can emerge between volatility and growth across cycling economies, and assess the extent to which our model matches several features of actual business cycles.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:aea:aecrev:v:93:y:2003:i:3:p:530-550
Journal Field
General
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-25