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Intertemporal choice and the cross-sectional variance of marginal utility
Get PDFThe theory of intertemporal choice predicts that the cross-sectional variance of the marginal utility of consumption is equal to its own lag plus a constant and a random component. Using general preference specifications and some assumptions about the nature of the random component, we provide an explicit test of this hypothesis. Our approach circumvents the necessity to identify a pure age profile of the cross-sectional variance of consumption and yields a well-specified statistical test. This test is applied to data from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Italy. The results are remarkably consistent with the restrictions implied by the theory of intertemporal consumption choices
Consumption and Saving: Models ofIntertemporal Allocation and TheirImplications for Public Policy
Get PDFThis paper provides a critical survey of the large literature on the life cycle model of consumption, both from an empirical and a theoretical point of view. It discusses several approaches that have been taken in the literature to bring the model to the data, their empirical successes, and their failures. Finally, the paper reviews a number of changes to the standard life cycle model that could help solve the remaining empirical puzzles
Inequality in Living Standards since 1980: Income Tells Only a Small Part of the Story
No full textStudies of wage and income inequality among U.S. citizens over the past thirty years have engendered the common wisdom that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. But is it really that simple? In this meticulous economic study, Orazio P. Attanasio, Erich Battistin, and Mario Padula contend that the evolution of income and wage inequalities offers only a partial picture of changes in prosperity in recent decades. Studying changes in the distribution of consumption and expenditure helps to amplify this picture--income, after all, is valued in large part because it allows consumption--and yields a more complete understanding of economic well-being in America.
Inequality in Living Standards since 1980: Income Tells Only a Small Part of the Story finds that income-poor households do not always coincide with consumption-poor households--income-poor households often report spending considerably higher than their income level. Income and consumption patterns also vary according to the age and education level of an individual or household head; a thorough and nuanced understanding of economic well-being should therefore consider both differences across groups and inequalities within groups. Finally, examining income levels in conjunction with consumption patterns provides valuable insights about the nature of income shocks that affect households (whether positive or negative) and the instruments available for smoothing out these shocks, such as personal savings, borrowing, and private or public transfers. Temporary shocks may not affect consumption and welfare at all, while the effects of permanent shocks on the same variables are more significant.
Has economic inequality worsened in the United States since 1980? Attanasio, Battistin, and Padula conclude that although inequality as measured by consumption has increased, that increase is not as large as when inequality is measured by income and wages alone. This thorough analysis has important implications for the design of U.S. economic policy and welfare programs in the twenty-first century
Money demand, financial innovation and the welfare cost of inflation
No full textNBER WORKING PAPER N. 6593
EFFECTIVENESS OF TAX INCENTIVES TO BOOST (RETIREMENT) SAVING: THEORETICAL MOTIVATION AND EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE
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