We analyze the conditions under which an (S,s) rule may be derived and compare these with alternative rules. We consider the case of labor demand with fixed adjustment costs. The (S,s) rule implies a specific ordering of choices: downward adjustment, non-adjustment and upward adjustment with the...

We consider a dynamic model in which firms decide whether or not to vary labor in the presence of fixed costs. By exploiting the first-order condition for optimality, we derive a semireduced form in which firms' intertemporal employment is defined by a standard marginal productivity condition...

In this paper we study the determinants of investment decisions at the firm level with heterogeneous capital goods. We exploit a newly developed panel dataset of small and medium-sized firms which allows us to distinguish between purchases, sales, and net acquisitions of capital goods. We...