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Recursive Preferences and Balanced Growth

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  • Farmer, Roger
  • Lahiri, Amartya

Abstract

We study a class of utility functions that are defined recursively by an aggregator function. In single-agent economies it is known that a sufficient condition for the existence of a balanced growth path is that utility should be homogenous. In the context of a multi-agent economy we show that this restriction implies that either a balanced growth equilibrium fails to exist or all agents have the same constant discount factor. We suggest a generalization of recursive preferences wherein the intertemporal utility function is time dependent. Within this class we establish that there may exist a balanced growth equilibrium even if agents are different. We give an example of our approach in the international context in which time dependence occurs because countries care about their relative position in the world income distribution.

Suggested Citation

  • Farmer, Roger & Lahiri, Amartya, 2003. "Recursive Preferences and Balanced Growth," CEPR Discussion Papers 3949, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:3949
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Taiji Harashima, 2005. "Endogenous Growth Models in Open Economies: A Possibility of Permanent Current Account Deficits," International Trade 0502001, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 20 Apr 2005.
    2. Harashima, Taiji, 2015. "Why Has the U.S. Current Account Deficit Persisted? International Sustainable Heterogeneity under Floating Exchange Rates," MPRA Paper 67177, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Harashima, Taiji, 2010. "Sustainable Heterogeneity: Inequality, Growth, and Social Welfare in a Heterogeneous Population," MPRA Paper 22521, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Harashima, Taiji, 2012. "Sustainable Heterogeneity as the Unique Socially Optimal Allocation for Almost All Social Welfare Functions," MPRA Paper 40938, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Harashima, Taiji, 2014. "The Representative Household Assumption Requires sustainable Heterogeneity in Dynamic Models," MPRA Paper 57520, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Roche, Hervé, 2011. "Asset prices in an exchange economy when agents have heterogeneous homothetic recursive preferences and no risk free bond is available," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 80-96, January.
    7. Hyun Park, 2008. "Endogenous Equilibrium Growth With Recursive Preferences And Increasing Returns," Journal of Economic Development, Chung-Ang Unviersity, Department of Economics, vol. 33(2), pages 167-188, December.
    8. Mohamed Mabrouk, 2005. "Intergenerational anonymity as an alternative to the discounted- sum criterion in the calculus of optimal growth II: Pareto optimality and some economic interpretations," GE, Growth, Math methods 0511007, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Mohamed Mabrouk, 2005. "Intergenerational anonymity as an alternative to the discounted- sum criterion in the calculus of optimal growth I: Consensual optimality," GE, Growth, Math methods 0510013, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Harashima, Taiji, 2016. "Live and Let Live: Sustainable Heterogeneity Will Generally Prevail," MPRA Paper 71887, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Marla Ripoll & Juan Carlos Cordoba, 2011. "A Contribution to the Economic Theory of Fertility," 2011 Meeting Papers 1207, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    12. Harashima, Taiji, 2009. "Trade Liberalization and Heterogeneous Rates of Time Preference across Countries: A Possibility of Trade Deficits with China," MPRA Paper 19386, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Taiji HARASHIMA, 2014. "Sustainable Heterogeneity In Exogenous Growth Models. The Socially Optimal Distribution By Government’S Intervention," Theoretical and Practical Research in the Economic Fields, ASERS Publishing, vol. 5(1), pages 73-100.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Recursive utility; Balanced growth; Endogenous income distribution;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D11 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Theory
    • F40 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - General

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