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Do capital gains affect consumption? Estimates of wealth effects from Italian householdsÂ’ behavior

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Author Info
Luigi Guiso () (Università degli Studi di Sassari)
Monica Paiella () (Bank of Italy)
Ignazio Visco () (Bank of Italy)

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Abstract

We use detailed data on housing prices in Italy available for a large number of years and with a fine geographical breakdown to compute capital gains and losses on the most widespread asset among consumers, housing, and inquire whether changes in housing values affect consumption. We find that consumer expenditures do react to capital gains, with a marginal propensity to consume out of real value changes of housing wealth of about 0.02. Reactions are different across types of consumers: while homeowners increase consumption when house prices increase, with a marginal propensity of about 0.035, the rentersÂ’ response to the higher house cost tends to be that of increased savings. For the owners of listed stocks the response to capital gains is difficult to estimate with statistical precision, even if, for the limited sample of owners of these assets, its negative sign may be indicative of prevailing substitution over income effects.

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Paper provided by Bank of Italy, Economic Research Department in its series Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) with number 555.

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Date of creation: Jun 2005
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Handle: RePEc:bdi:wptemi:td_555_05

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Related research
Keywords: wealth effects; consumption; housing; stock ownership;

Find related papers by JEL classification:
D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomics: Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
E44 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Financial Markets and the Macroeconomy

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References listed on IDEAS
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.:
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    Other versions:
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  7. James M. Poterba & Andrew A. Samwick, 1995. "Stock Ownership Patterns, Stock Market Fluctuations, and Consumption," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 26(1995-2), pages 295-372. [Downloadable!]
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  9. Monica Paiella, 2003. "Revisiting the Implications of Heterogeneity in Financial Market Participation for the C-CAPM," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 473, Bank of Italy, Economic Research Department. [Downloadable!]
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  15. Hilary W. Hoynes & Daniel L. McFadden, 1996. "The Impact of Demographics on Housing and Nonhousing Wealth in the United States," NBER Chapters, in: The Economic Effects of Aging in the United States and Japan, pages 153-194 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  16. Martha Starr-McCluer, 1998. "Stock market wealth and consumer spending," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 1998-20, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  17. Barca, F. & Cannari, L. & Guiso, L., 1992. "Bequests and Saving for Retirement. What Impels the Accumulation of Wealth," Papers 165, Banca Italia - Servizio di Studi.
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    Other versions:
  21. Annette Vissing-Jorgensen, 2002. "Limited Asset Market Participation and the Elasticity of Intertemporal Substitution," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 110(4), pages 825-853, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Full references

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.)

  1. Magnus Andersson & Antonello D’Agostino, 2008. "Are sectoral stock prices useful for predicting euro area GDP?," Working Paper Series 876, European Central Bank. [Downloadable!]
  2. Matteo Bugamelli & Alfonso Rosolia, 2006. "Productivity and foreign competition," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 578, Bank of Italy, Economic Research Department. [Downloadable!]
  3. Eva Sierminska & Yelena Takhtamanova, 2007. "Disentangling the wealth effect: some international evidence," FRBSF Economic Letter, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, issue Jan 19. [Downloadable!]
  4. Andersson, Magnus & D'Agostino, Antonello, 2008. "Are sectoral stock prices useful for predicting euro area GDP?," Research Technical Papers 2/RT/08, Central Bank & Financial Services Authority of Ireland (CBFSAI). [Downloadable!]
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