This paper uses state-level consumption data to estimate the intertemporal elasticity of substitution of consumption (IES). In contrast to the results of Hall (1988) and Campbell and Mankiw (1989), we provide evidence indicating that the IES is significantly different from zero and probably close to one. Since inference about the IES in the context of the standard Euler equation is problematic as a result of mis-specification bias, we cast most of our discussion in the context of the framework developed by Campbell and Mankiw. This modifies the Euler equation in that a fraction of agents simply consume their income. The use of panel data to examine the relationship between interest rates and consumption growth has two advantages. First, we achieve a significant increase in precision, which in particular allows us to rule out a zero IES. Second, we can use the panel aspect of the data to bypass asset return measurement problems. In particular, we identify a common time component in expected consumption growth that is associated with movements in interest rates when the IES is positive. Copyright 1996 by The London School of Economics and Political Science.
Download Info
To download:
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the
proper application to
view it first. Information about this may be contained
in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read
the IDEAS help
page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS
site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version under "Related research" (further below) or search for a different version of it.
Publisher Info
Article provided by London School of Economics and Political Science in its journal Economica.
Volume (Year): 63 (1996) Issue (Month): 251 (August) Pages: 495-512 Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML
(with abstract),
plain text
(with abstract),
BibTeX,
RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite),
ReDIF
For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (Christopher F. Baum).
Related research
Keywords:
Cited by: (explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.) This item has more than 25 citations. To prevent cluttering this page, these citations are listed on a separate page.