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Why Is Consumption More Log Normal than Income? Gibrat's Law Revisited

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  • Erich Battistin
  • Richard Blundell
  • Arthur Lewbel

Abstract

Significant departures from log normality are observed in income data, in violation of Gibrat's law. We show empirically that the distribution of consumption expenditures across households is, within cohorts, closer to log normal than the distribution of income. We explain this empirical result by showing that the logic of Gibrat's law applies not to total income, but to permanent income and to marginal utility. (c) 2009 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.

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  • Erich Battistin & Richard Blundell & Arthur Lewbel, 2009. "Why Is Consumption More Log Normal than Income? Gibrat's Law Revisited," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 117(6), pages 1140-1154, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jpolec:v:117:y:2009:i:6:p:1140-1154
    DOI: 10.1086/648995
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D3 - Microeconomics - - Distribution
    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making

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