TY  - JOUR
AU  - West,Kenneth D.
TI  - A Comparison of the Behavior of Japanese and U.S. Inventories
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 3762
PY  - 1991
Y2  - July 1991
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w3762
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w3762.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Kenneth D. West
Department of Economics
University of Wisconsin
1180 Observatory Drive
Madison, WI  53706
Tel: 608/262-0033
Fax: 608/262-2033
E-Mail: kdwest@wisc.edu
AB  - This paper compares the cyclical and secular behavior of Japanese and U.S. inventories at the aggregate and sectoral level, 1967-1987. While, as is well known, U.S. inventories are sharply procyclical, Japanese inventories are only mildly procyclical. In neither country do inventory and sales move together in the long run, in the sense that the two series do not seem to be cointegrated. In Japan, but not in the U.S., there is a secular decline in the inventory-sales ratio.
ER  -