IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cuf/journl/y2024v25i1yangzhang.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Consumption, Wealth, Frugality, and Economic Growth

Author

Listed:
  • Zaifu Yang

    (Department of Economics and Related Studies, University of York, UK)

  • Rong Zhang

    (College of Economics and Business Administration, Chongqing University)

Abstract

In this paper we provide a quantitative analysis of how wealth may affect economic growth. In the economy, the utility of every individual depends on both consumption and wealth. Exploring a class of specific utility functions in which wealth has a weakening effect on the marginal utility of consumption, we find a closed-form solution of steady-state consumption, capital stock, savings rate, and convergence rate and obtain several novel results of wealth effects on economic growth. We also demonstrate that the new models can be calibrated to fit well with empirical observation.

Suggested Citation

  • Zaifu Yang & Rong Zhang, 2024. "Consumption, Wealth, Frugality, and Economic Growth," Annals of Economics and Finance, Society for AEF, vol. 25(1), pages 31-61, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:cuf:journl:y:2024:v:25:i:1:yangzhang
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://down.aefweb.net/AefArticles/aef250102YangZhang.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Romer, Paul M, 1986. "Increasing Returns and Long-run Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(5), pages 1002-1037, October.
    2. Smith, William T., 1999. "Risk, the Spirit of Capitalism and Growth: The Implications of a Preference for Capital," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 21(2), pages 241-262, April.
    3. Gong, Liutang & Zou, Heng-fu, 2002. "Direct preferences for wealth, the risk premium puzzle, growth, and policy effectiveness," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 247-270, February.
    4. Case, Karl E. & Quigley, John M. & Shiller, Robert J., 2013. "Wealth Effects Revisited 1975-2012," Critical Finance Review, now publishers, vol. 2(1), pages 101-128, July.
    5. Smith, William T, 2001. "How Does the Spirit of Capitalism Affect Stock Market Prices?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 14(4), pages 1215-1232.
    6. Zhou, Ge, 2016. "The Spirit Of Capitalism And Rational Bubbles," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(6), pages 1432-1457, September.
    7. Yulei Luo & William T. Smith & Heng‐Fu Zou, 2009. "The Spirit of Capitalism, Precautionary Savings, and Consumption," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 41(2‐3), pages 543-554, March.
    8. Bambi, Mauro & Gozzi, Fausto & Licandro, Omar, 2014. "Endogenous growth and wave-like business fluctuations," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 68-111.
    9. Günther Rehme, 2017. "“Love of wealth” and economic growth," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(4), pages 1305-1326, November.
    10. Aghion, Philippe & Howitt, Peter, 1992. "A Model of Growth through Creative Destruction," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 60(2), pages 323-351, March.
    11. Carroll, Christopher D & Overland, Jody & Weil, David N, 1997. "Comparison Utility in a Growth Model," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 2(4), pages 339-367, December.
    12. Zou, Heng-fu, 1994. "'The spirit of capitalism' and long-run growth," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 10(2), pages 279-293, July.
    13. Santanu Roy, 2010. "On sustained economic growth with wealth effects," International Journal of Economic Theory, The International Society for Economic Theory, vol. 6(1), pages 29-45, March.
    14. Giacomo Corneo & Olivier Jeanne, 2001. "Status, the Distribution of Wealth, and Growth," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 103(2), pages 283-293, June.
    15. Bakshi, Gurdip S & Chen, Zhiwu, 1996. "The Spirit of Capitalism and Stock-Market Prices," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(1), pages 133-157, March.
    16. Fershtman, Chaim & Murphy, Kevin M & Weiss, Yoram, 1996. "Social Status, Education, and Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 104(1), pages 108-132, February.
    17. Corneo, Giacomo & Jeanne, Olivier, 1997. "On relative wealth effects and the optimality of growth," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 87-92, January.
    18. K. J. Arrow, 1971. "The Economic Implications of Learning by Doing," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: F. H. Hahn (ed.), Readings in the Theory of Growth, chapter 11, pages 131-149, Palgrave Macmillan.
    19. repec:bla:scandj:v:103:y:2001:i:2:p:283-93 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Heng-fu Zou, 1995. "The spirit of capitalism and savings behavior," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 131-143, September.
    21. Barro, Robert J, 1990. "Government Spending in a Simple Model of Endogenous Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(5), pages 103-126, October.
    22. Lucas, Robert Jr., 1988. "On the mechanics of economic development," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 3-42, July.
    23. Bose, Sanjit, 1971. "Optimal Growth and Wealth Effects: Comment," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 12(1), pages 157-160, February.
    24. Franco Modigliani & Shi Larry Cao, 2004. "The Chinese Saving Puzzle and the Life-Cycle Hypothesis," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 42(1), pages 145-170, March.
    25. Takashi Kamihigashi, 2008. "The spirit of capitalism, stock market bubbles and output fluctuations," International Journal of Economic Theory, The International Society for Economic Theory, vol. 4(1), pages 3-28, March.
    26. David Cass, 1965. "Optimum Growth in an Aggregative Model of Capital Accumulation," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 32(3), pages 233-240.
    27. Romer, Paul M, 1990. "Endogenous Technological Change," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(5), pages 71-102, October.
    28. Cole, Harold L & Mailath, George J & Postlewaite, Andrew, 1992. "Social Norms, Savings Behavior, and Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(6), pages 1092-1125, December.
    29. Deaton, Angus, 1992. "Understanding Consumption," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198288244.
    30. A. S. Deaton, 1972. "Wealth Effects on Consumption in a Modified Life-Cycle Model," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 39(4), pages 443-453.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zaifu Yang & Rong Zhang, 2021. "Generalized Cumulative Offer Processes," Discussion Papers 21/08, Department of Economics, University of York.
    2. Yulei Luo & Jun Nie & Heng-fu Zou, 2021. "Wealth in the Utility Function and Consumption Inequality," Research Working Paper RWP 21-17, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.
    3. Liutang Gong & Heng-fu Zou, 1998. "Fiscal Policies in a Finite Horizon Model with the Spirit of Capitalism," CEMA Working Papers 102, China Economics and Management Academy, Central University of Finance and Economics.
    4. Kunting Chen, 2012. "Analysis of the Great Divergence under a Unified Endogenous Growth Model," Annals of Economics and Finance, Society for AEF, vol. 13(2), pages 317-353, November.
    5. Marco Airaudo, 2017. "Complex stock price dynamics under Max Weber’s spirit of capitalism hypothesis," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 64(1), pages 47-73, June.
    6. repec:ebl:ecbull:v:2:y:2002:i:1:p:1-15 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Hof, Franz X. & Prettner, Klaus, 2019. "The quest for status and R&D-based growth," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 290-307.
    8. Liutang Gong & Yulei Luo & Heng-fu Zou, 2009. "Social Status, the Spirit of Capitalism, and the Term Structure of Interest Rates in Stochastic Production Economies," CEMA Working Papers 372, China Economics and Management Academy, Central University of Finance and Economics.
    9. Aykut Kibritçioglu, 2002. "On the Smithian origins of "new" trade and growth theories," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 2(1), pages 1-15.
    10. MARTINS, Ana Paula, 2015. "Increasing Returns And Endogenous Growth: Market Size And Taste For Variety," Academica Science Journal, Economica Series, Dimitrie Cantemir University, Faculty of Economical Science, vol. 1(5), pages 3-33, June.
    11. Wen‐Ya Chang & Ying‐An Chen & Ming‐Ruey Kao, 2008. "Social Status, Education And Government Spending In A Two‐Sector Model Of Endogenous Growth," The Japanese Economic Review, Japanese Economic Association, vol. 59(1), pages 99-112, March.
    12. Chen, Hung- Ju, 2011. "Social status, human capital formation and super-neutrality in a two-sector monetary economy," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 785-794, May.
    13. Corneo, Giacomo & Jeanne, Olivier, 2001. "On relative-wealth effects and long-run growth," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(4), pages 349-358, December.
    14. Sala-i-Martin, Xavier, 1990. "Lecture Notes on Economic Growth: Five Prototype Models of Endogenous Growth. Volume II," Center Discussion Papers 321324, Yale University, Economic Growth Center.
    15. Smith, William & Son, Young Seob, 2005. "Can the desire to conserve our natural resources be self-defeating?," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 49(1), pages 52-67, January.
    16. Yuanping Wang & Yingjie Niu & Siwen Gong, 2022. "Robust consumption policy with the desire for wealth accumulation," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 20(3), pages 993-1025, September.
    17. Gong, Liutang & Zou, Heng-fu, 2012. "Risk-taking, fiscal policies, asset pricing, and stochastic growth with the spirit of capitalism," MPRA Paper 37426, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Carine Nourry, 2012. "Dasgupta, D.: Modern growth theory," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 105(1), pages 97-100, January.
    19. Richard M. H. Suen, 2014. "Time Preference And The Distributions Of Wealth And Income," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 52(1), pages 364-381, January.
    20. I. Hakan Yetkiner, 2006. "Saglik ile Buyume," Ege Academic Review, Ege University Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, vol. 6(2), pages 83-91.
    21. Yulei Luo & William T. Smith & Heng-fu Zou, 2009. "The Spirit of Capitalism and Excess Smoothness," Annals of Economics and Finance, Society for AEF, vol. 10(2), pages 281-301, November.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Economic growth; Wealth effects; Savings rate; Convergence rate;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C61 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Optimization Techniques; Programming Models; Dynamic Analysis
    • O40 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - General
    • O41 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - One, Two, and Multisector Growth Models

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cuf:journl:y:2024:v:25:i:1:yangzhang. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Qiang Gao (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/emcufcn.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.