Is consumption insufficiently sensitive to innovations in income?

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Is consumption insufficiently sensitive to innovations in income?

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Lawrence J. Christiano

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Lawrence Christiano

Abstract

Deaton (1986) has noted that if income is a first-order autoregressive process in first differences, then a simple version of Friedman’s permanent income hypothesis (SPIH) implies that measured U.S. consumption is insufficiently sensitive to innovations in income. This paper argues that this implication of the SPIH is a consequence of the fact that it ignores the role of the substitution effect in the consumption decision. Using a parametric version of the standard model of economic growth, the paper shows that very small movements in interest rates are sufficient to induce an empirically plausible amount of consumption smoothing. Since an overall evaluation of the model’s explanation for the observed smoothness of consumption requires examining its implications for other aspects of the data, the paper also explores some of these.

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Paper provided by Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis in its series Staff Report with number 106.

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Date of creation: 1987
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Handle: RePEc:fip:fedmsr:106

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Article
- Christiano, Lawrence J, 1987. "Is Consumption Insufficiently Sensitive to Innovations in Income?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 77(2), pages 337-41, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)

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.:

Kydland, Finn E & Prescott, Edward C, 1982. "Time to Build and Aggregate Fluctuations," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 50(6), pages 1345-70, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Other versions:
- Finn E. Kydland & Edward C. Prescott, 1982. "Web interface for "Time to Build and Aggregate Fluctuations"," QM&RBC Codes 4a, Quantitative Macroeconomics & Real Business Cycles. [Downloadable!]
- Finn E. Kydland & Edward C. Prescott, 1982. "Executable program for "Time to Build and Aggregate Fluctuations"," QM&RBC Codes 4, Quantitative Macroeconomics & Real Business Cycles. [Downloadable!]

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.)

Parantap Basu, 1994. "Capital risk and consumption puzzles: A pedagogical note," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 60(1), pages 99-107, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
James M. Nason, 1991. "The permanent income hypothesis when the bliss point is stochastic," Discussion Paper / Institute for Empirical Macroeconomics 46, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. [Downloadable!]
Other versions:
- Nason, J.M., 1991. "The Permanent Income Hypothesis when the Bliss Point is Stochastic," UBC Departmental Archives 91-18, UBC Department of Economics.
Marjorie A. Flavin, 1988. "The Excess Smoothness of Consumption: Identification and Interpretation," NBER Working Papers 2807, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Lawrence J. Christiano & Martin Eichenbaum, 1989. "Unit Roots in Real GNP: Do We Know, and Do We Care?," NBER Working Papers 3130, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Other versions:
- Lawrence J. Christiano & Martin Eichenbaum, 1989. "Unit roots in real GNP: do we know, and do we care?," Discussion Paper / Institute for Empirical Macroeconomics 18, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. [Downloadable!]
- Lawrence J. Christiano & Martin Eichenbaum, 1990. "Unit roots in real GNP: do we know, and do we care?," Working Paper Series, Macroeconomic Issues 90-2, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
- Christiano, Lawrence J. & Eichenbaum, Martin, 1990. "Unit roots in real GNP: Do we know, and do we care?," Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 7-61, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Marcelo L. Veracierto, 2002. "Plant-Level Irreversible Investment and Equilibrium Business Cycles," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(1), pages 181-197, March. [Downloadable!]
Other versions:
- Marcelo Veracierto, 1998. "Plant level irreversible investment and equilibrium business cycles," Working Paper Series WP-98-1, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. [Downloadable!]
- Marcelo Veracierto, 1997. "Plant level irreversible investment and equilibrium business cycles," Discussion Paper / Institute for Empirical Macroeconomics 115, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. [Downloadable!]
Michele Boldrin & Lawrence J. Christiano & Jonas D. M. Fisher, 2001. "Habit Persistence, Asset Returns, and the Business Cycle," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(1), pages 149-166, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Other versions:
- Michele Boldrin & Lawrence J. Christiano & Jonas D. M. Fisher, 2000. "Habit persistence, asset returns and the business cycle," Staff Report 280, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. [Downloadable!]
- Michele Boldrin & Lawrence J. Christiano & Jonas D.M. Fisher, 1999. "Habit persistence, asset returns and the business cycles," Working Paper Series WP-99-14, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
Francesco Busato & Bruno Chiarini, 2002. "Consumption And Income Smoothing," Working Papers 2_2002, D.E.S. (Department of Economic Studies), University of Naples "Parthenope", Italy. [Downloadable!]
Other versions:
- Francesco Busato & Bruno Chiarini & Elisabetta Marzano, 2006. "Consumption and Income Smoothing," Discussion Papers 13_2006, D.E.S. (Department of Economic Studies), University of Naples "Parthenope", Italy. [Downloadable!]
- Francesco Busato & Bruno Chiarini & Elisabetta Marzano, 2008. "Consumption and income smoothing," Applied Economics, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 40(17), pages 2191-2207. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Gary D. Hansen, 1989. "Technical Progress and Aggregate Fluctuations," UCLA Economics Working Papers 546, UCLA Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
Other versions:
- Hansen, Gary D., 1997. "Technical progress and aggregate fluctuations," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 21(6), pages 1005-1023, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)

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