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Consumption Smoothing and the Structure of Labor and Credit Markets

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Author Info
Bertola, Giuseppe (Università di Torino, EUI and CEPR)
Koeniger, Winfried () (IZA Bonn)

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Abstract

Smoother labor incomes alleviate credit constraints by reducing workers' desire to borrow, and prospects of upward income mobility have smaller beneficial effects for currently poor workers when borrowing constraints are binding. These simple theoretical insights are consistent with the empirically more pronounced tendency of poor would-borrowers to favor government redistribution in countries where consumer credit is relatively scarce. They may also explain observed institutional patterns across countries and markets: policies that reduce the dispersion and volatility of labor income appear to be more prevalent in countries where inefficient legal systems restrict borrowing opportunities. Our theoretical perspective and empirical results offer more general insights as to ways in which historically determined features and politico-economic interactions may jointly shape institutional aspects of different markets, and as to appropriate design of reform processes.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 1052.

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Length: 31 pages
Date of creation: Mar 2004
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Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp1052

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Related research
Keywords: labor market institutions consumer credit redistribution borrowing constraints

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomics: Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomics: Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution
E61 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Policy Objectives; Policy Designs and Consistency; Policy Coordination

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References listed on IDEAS
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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. Charles Grant & Winfried Koeniger, 2005. "Redistributive Taxation and Personal Bankruptcy in US States," IZA Discussion Papers 1805, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  2. B. Gabriela Mundaca & Jon Strand, 2004. "A Risk Allocation Approach to Optimal Exchange Rate Policy," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo GmbH. [Downloadable!]
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