The primary aim of this study is to analyze the impact of imperfections in capital markets on individuals' lifetime allocation plans and the resulting implications for income distribution. The model builds upon Samuelson's overlapping generation model with human capital and bequest motives playing central roles. The model developed here introduces a limit on the individual's ability to borrow. One of the most important consequences of this constraint is that human investment falls short of the level where its marginal return is equal to that of non-human investment. The comparative static results show that an individual who has been subject to the borrowing constraint would increase human investment unambiguously if he were allowed to borrow freely against future earnings. Discussions of the distributive implications of this result suggest that the elimination of the borrowing constraint has a potential of enhancing both intragenerational income equality and intergenerational mobility. The simulation results show that the elimination of the borrowing limit would bring about a significant improvement in income distribution without having an adverse effect on efficiency.
Download Info
To download:
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the
proper application to
view it first. Information about this may be contained
in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read
the IDEAS help
page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS
site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version under "Related research" (further below) or search for a different version of it.
Publisher Info
Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number
0663.
Length: Date of creation: Apr 1981 Date of revision: Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:0663
Note: LS Contact details of provider: Postal: National Bureau of Economic Research, 1050 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A. Phone: 617-868-3900 Email: Web page: http://www.nber.org More information through EDIRC
For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: ().
Related research
Keywords:
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.: