This paper reexamines the permanent income hypothesis (PIH) in the frequency domain. Using a simple model, we demonstrate that the PIH implies the marginal propensity to consume (MPC) out of zero frequency income is unity. The PIH also implies that the MPC out of transitory (or high frequency) income is smaller than the long-run MPC. The paper employs a systems spectral regression procedure to test the PIH that accommodates stochastic trends in the consumption and income series as well as the joint dependence in these series. Monte Carlo simulations suggest that single equation techniques can produce inefficient tests of the PIH and that systems spectral regression methods provide substantially better tests. New empirical estimates of the consumption function and tests of the PIH based on systems spectral regression methods are reported for U.S. aggregate consumption and income data over the period 1948-1990. The empirical results provide partial support for the theoretical implications of the PIH in the frequency domain.
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Length: 18 pages Date of creation: Oct 1991 Date of revision: Publication status: Published in Empirical Economics (1994), 19: 595-609 Handle: RePEc:cwl:cwldpp:997
Find related papers by JEL classification: D91 - Microeconomics - - Intertemporal Choice and Growth - - - Intertemporal Consumer Choice; Life Cycle Models and Saving D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomics: Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth E27 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomics: Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Forecasting and Simulation
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.:
Engle, Robert F, 1974.
"Band Spectrum Regression,"
International Economic Review,
Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 15(1), pages 1-11, February.
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