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Advantages of an Ellipse when Modeling Leisure Utility

Author

Listed:
  • Richard W. Evans

    (University of Chicago)

  • Kerk L. Phillips

    (Brigham Young University)

Abstract

This paper characterizes a specification for the utility of leisure that is based on the general equation for an ellipse. We show that this functional form has multiple benefits. The elliptical utility function provides Inada conditions at both the upper-bound and lower-bound constraints on labor supply, which is not the case for the two most common alternative functions. The presence of these two Inada conditions in the elliptical utility of leisure specification speeds up the computation by a factor between three and six times. We further show that the elliptical utility of leisure function is a close approximation to the constant relative risk aversion and constant Frisch elasticity functions in terms of marginal utilities, microeconomic outcomes in a life cycle model, and macroeconomic outcomes in a simple real business cycle model.

Suggested Citation

  • Richard W. Evans & Kerk L. Phillips, 2018. "Advantages of an Ellipse when Modeling Leisure Utility," Computational Economics, Springer;Society for Computational Economics, vol. 51(3), pages 513-533, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:compec:v:51:y:2018:i:3:d:10.1007_s10614-016-9619-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s10614-016-9619-7
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    Cited by:

    1. D'ANDRIA Diego & DEBACKER Jason & EVANS Richard W. & PYCROFT Jonathan & ZACHLOD-JELEC Magdalena, 2021. "Taxing income or consumption: macroeconomic and distributional effects for Italy," JRC Working Papers on Taxation & Structural Reforms 2021-13, Joint Research Centre.
    2. Diego d'Andria & Jason DeBacker & Richard Evans & Jonathan Pycroft & Magdalena Zachlod-Jelec, 2019. "Micro-founded tax policy effects in a heterogenenous-agent macro-model," JRC Working Papers on Taxation & Structural Reforms 2019-01, Joint Research Centre.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Ellipse; Labor; Leisure; Utility; Inada conditions; Occasionally binding constraints; Interior solutions;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C02 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - General - - - Mathematical Economics
    • C60 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - General
    • C63 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Computational Techniques
    • J20 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - General

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