This file is part of IDEAS, which uses RePEc data


[ Papers | Articles | Software | Books | Chapters | Authors | Institutions | JEL Classification | NEP reports | Search | New papers by email | Author registration | Rankings | Volunteers | FAQ | Blog | Help! ]

Consumption Commitments and Preferences for Risk

Author info | Abstract | Publisher info | Download info | Related research | Statistics
Author Info
Larry Samuelson
Andrew Postlewaite

Additional information is available for the following registered author(s):

Abstract

We examine an economy in which the cost of consuming some goods can be reduced by making commitments to consumption levels that do not vary across states. For example, moral hazard and matching considerations may make it cheaper to produce housing services via owner-occupied than rented housing, but the transactions costs associated with the former may compel consumers to adopt a realtively inflexible housing consumptin plan. We show that consumption commitments can cause risk-neutral consumers to care a great deal about risk, creating an incentive to insure risks and to bunch uninsured risks together. As a result, workers may preger to avoid wage risk while bearing an unemployment risk that is concentrated in as few states as possible. The interaction between consumptin and labor markets may give rise to multiple equilibria. The basic predictions of the model are compared with corresponding moments of US data on layoff risk and housing consumption.

Download Info
To our knowledge, this item is not available for download. To find whether it is available, there are three options:
1. Check below under "Related research" whether another version of this item is available online.
2. Check on the provider's web page whether it is in fact available.
3. Perform a search for a similarly titled item that would be available.

Publisher Info
Paper provided by Econometric Society in its series Econometric Society 2004 North American Winter Meetings with number 162.

Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML (with abstract), plain text (with abstract), BibTeX, RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite), ReDIF
Length:
Date of creation: 11 Aug 2004
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:ecm:nawm04:162

Contact details of provider:
Phone: 1 212 998 3820
Fax: 1 212 995 4487
Email:
Web page: http://www.econometricsociety.org/pastmeetings.asp
More information through EDIRC

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (Christopher F. Baum).

Related research
Keywords: risk aversion; consumption commitments; wage contracts;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
J3 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs
J41 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Labor Contracts
D8 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty

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.:

  1. Akerlof, George A & Miyazaki, Hajime, 1980. "The Implicit Contract Theory of Unemployment Meets the Wage Bill Argument," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 47(2), pages 321-38, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Ellingsen, Tore & Holden, Steinar, 1995. "Sticky Consumption and Rigid Wages," Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance 62, Stockholm School of Economics.
    Other versions:
  3. Kihlstrom, Richard E & Mirman, Leonard J, 1981. "Constant, Increasing and Decreasing Risk Aversion with Many Commodities," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 48(2), pages 271-80, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Adam Szeidl & Raj Chetty, 2004. "Consumption Commitments and Asset Prices," 2004 Meeting Papers 354, Society for Economic Dynamics. [Downloadable!]
  5. Deaton, A. & Grosh, M., 1998. "Consumption," Papers 191, Princeton, Woodrow Wilson School - Development Studies.
  6. Baily, Martin Neil, 1974. "Wages and Employment under Uncertain Demand," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 41(1), pages 37-50, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Azariadis, Costas, 1975. "Implicit Contracts and Underemployment Equilibria," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 83(6), pages 1183-1202, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Lucas, Robert E, Jr & Rapping, Leonard A, 1969. "Real Wages, Employment, and Inflation," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 77(5), pages 721-54, Sept./Oct. [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. Benjamin Eden, 2008. "Substitution, Risk Aversion and Asset Prices: An Expected Utility Approach," Working Papers 0803, Department of Economics, Vanderbilt University. [Downloadable!]
  2. Raj Chetty & Adam Szeidl, 2006. "Consumption Commitments and Risk Preferences," NBER Working Papers 12467, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Drew Fudenberg & David K Levine, 2009. "Self Control, Risk Aversion, and the Allais Paradox," Levine's Working Paper Archive 843644000000000332, David K. Levine. [Downloadable!]
  4. Steinar Holden & Fredrik Wulfsberg, 2007. "How strong is the case for downward real wage rigidity?," Working Papers 07-6, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. [Downloadable!]
  5. Raj Chetty & Adam Szeidl, 2004. "Consumption Commitments: Neoclassical Foundations for Habit Formation," NBER Working Papers 10970, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  6. Stephen H. Shore & Todd Sinai, 2005. "Commitment, Risk, and Consumption: Do Birds of a Feather Have Bigger Nests?," NBER Working Papers 11588, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Statistics
Access and download statistics

Did you know? IDEAS also indexes software components.

This page was last updated on 2009-11-6.

This information is provided to you by IDEAS at the Department of Economics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Connecticut using RePEc data on a server sponsored by the Society for Economic Dynamics.