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Ricardian Equivalence Survives Strategic Behavior

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  • Rebelein, Robert P

Abstract

Robert Barro (1974) showed government debt has no real effects when generations are linked by altruistically motivated intergenerational transfers, a result now known widely as the Ricardian Equivalence Theorem. An important condition for debt neutrality is believed to be the absence of strategic interactions between members of different generations. I use a simple two-period, parent and child model in which the parent is altruistic, to show Ricardian equivalence holds in the presence of intergenerational strategic behavior for a broad class of utility functions. The intuition for this result derives from the fact that the child’s utility is a public good.
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  • Rebelein, Robert P, 1998. "Ricardian Equivalence Survives Strategic Behavior," Public Finance = Finances publiques, , vol. 53(2), pages 195-228.
    • Handle: RePEc:pfi:pubfin:v:53:y:1998:i:2:p:195-228
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    1. Bruce, Neil & Waldman, Michael, 1991. "Transfers in Kind: Why They Can Be Efficient and Nonpaternalistic," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 81(5), pages 1345-1351, December.
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    1. Robert P. Rebelein, 2006. "Strategic Behavior, Debt Neutrality, and Crowding Out," Public Finance Review, , vol. 34(2), pages 148-172, March.
    2. Rebelein, Robert P., 2005. "Intergenerational Strategic Behavior and Crowding Out in a General Equilibrium Model," Vassar College Department of Economics Working Paper Series 74, Vassar College Department of Economics.

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