This paper analyzes the role of variable capital-utilization rates in
propagating shocks over the business cycle. The model on which our ana
lysis is based treats variable capital-utilization rates as a form of
factor-hoarding. We argue that variable capital-utilization rates are
a quantitatively important source of propagation to business-cycle sho
cks. With this additional source of propagation, the volatility of exo
genous technology shocks needed to explain the observed variability in
aggregate U.S. output is significantly reduced relative to standard r
eal-business-cycle models.