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Consumption Heterogeneity: Micro Drivers and Macro Implications

Author

Listed:
  • Edmund Crawley
  • Andreas Kuchler

Abstract

We document heterogeneity in the marginal propensity to consume (MPC) across household characteristics relevant to understanding heterogeneous agent models and monetary policy transmission. We find a strong negative relationship between household liquid wealth and MPC. We show that household liquid wealth predicts MPC closely for every other household characteristic we look at. We use a new empirical method that overcomes sources of bias found in the existing literature, along with administrative data from Denmark that allow us to identify heterogeneous behavior. We use our results to analyze monetary policy transmission mechanisms in both Denmark and the United States.

Suggested Citation

  • Edmund Crawley & Andreas Kuchler, 2023. "Consumption Heterogeneity: Micro Drivers and Macro Implications," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 15(1), pages 314-341, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejmac:v:15:y:2023:i:1:p:314-41
    DOI: 10.1257/mac.20200352
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Bertrand Garbinti & Pierre Lamarche & Frédérique Savignac, 2024. "Wealth Heterogeneity and the Marginal Propensity to Consume out of Wealth," Working papers 962, Banque de France.
    2. Ueda, Kozo, 2024. "Household spending responses to two-time COVID-19 payments," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    3. Crawley, Edmund & Theloudis, Alexandros, 2024. "Income Shocks and their Transmission into Consumption," Discussion Paper 2024-012, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    4. De Bonis, Riccardo & Liberati, Danilo & Muellbauer, John & Rondinelli, Concetta, 2023. "Why net worth is the wrong concept for explaining consumption: evidence from Italy," CEPR Discussion Papers 18597, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    5. Guido Ascari & Andrea Colciago & Timo Haber & Stefan Wöhrmüller, 2025. "Inequality along the European green transition," Working Papers 830, DNB.
    6. Paul Hubert & Frédérique Savignac, 2023. "Monetary Policy and Labor Income Inequality: the Role of Extensive and Intensive Margins," Working papers 913, Banque de France.
    7. Koşar, Gizem & Melcangi, Davide & Pilossoph, Laura & Wiczer, David, 2023. "Stimulus through Insurance: The Marginal Propensity to Repay Debt," IZA Discussion Papers 16211, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Fessler, Pirmin & Rapp, Severin, 2024. "The Subjective Wealth Distribution: How it Arises and Why it Matters to Inform Policy?," SocArXiv 3x4jh, Center for Open Science.
    9. Kozo UEDA, 2023. "Marginal Propensity to Consume and Personal Characteristics: Evidence from Bank Transaction Data and Survey," CIGS Working Paper Series 23-007E, The Canon Institute for Global Studies.
    10. Dominic Cucic & Denis Gorea, 2024. "Non-bank lending and the transmission of monetary policy," BIS Working Papers 1211, Bank for International Settlements.
    11. Anisha Ghosh & Alexandros Theloudis, 2023. "Consumption Partial Insurance in the Presence of Tail Income Risk," Papers 2306.13208, arXiv.org, revised Mar 2025.
    12. Daniel H. Cooper & Barry Z. Cynamon & Steven Fazzari, 2023. "Sustainable Consumption and the Comprehensive Economic Well-Being of American Households," Working Papers 23-5, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
    13. repec:osf:socarx:3x4jh_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Frish, Roni, 2024. "Consumption and the permanent income of households," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(4).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • E43 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Interest Rates: Determination, Term Structure, and Effects
    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy
    • G51 - Financial Economics - - Household Finance - - - Household Savings, Borrowing, Debt, and Wealth

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