The Distribution of the U.S. Capital Stock Between Residential and Industrial Uses

The purpose of the present study is to measure the extent to which an increase in the total capital stock induces an increase in the stock of residential capital, i.e., to measure the marginal propensity of additional capital to be absorbed in residential capital. A knowledge of this propensity is important to evaluate the national return on additional saving and to understand the impact that an increased capital stock could have on labor productivity and on the composition of national output. The present paper provides both a theoretical and an empirical examination of this question.