The age-time-cohort problem and the identification of structural parameters in life-cylce models
The standard approach to estimating structural parameters in life-cycle models imposes sufficient assumptions on the data to identify the “age profile” of outcomes, then chooses model parameters so that the model’s age profile matches this empirical age profile. I show that the standard approach is both incorrect and unnecessary: incorrect, because it generally produces inconsistent estimators of the structural parameters, and unnecessary, because consistent estimators can be obtained under weaker assumptions. I derive an estimation method that avoids the problems of the standard approach. I illustrate the method’s benefits analytically in a simple model of consumption inequality and numerically by reestimating the classic life-cycle consumption model of Gourinchas and Parker (2002).
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| Date of creation: | 2013 |
| Date of revision: | |
| Handle: | RePEc:fip:fedmwp:707 |
| Contact details of provider: | Postal: Phone: (612) 204-5000 Web page: http://minneapolisfed.org/ More information through EDIRC
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References listed on IDEAS
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- Sam Schulhofer-Wohl & Yang Yang, 2011. "Modeling the evolution of age and cohort effects in social research," Staff Report 461, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
- Mariacristina De Nardi & Eric French & John B. Jones, 2010.
"Why Do the Elderly Save? The Role of Medical Expenses,"
Journal of Political Economy,
University of Chicago Press, vol. 118(1), pages 39-75, 02.
- Mariacristina De Nardi & Eric French & John Bailey Jones, 2009. "Why do the Elderly Save? The Role of Medical Expenses," NBER Working Papers 15149, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- Mariacristina De Nardi & Eric French & John Bailey Jones, 2009. "Why do the elderly save? the role of medical expenses," Working Paper Series WP-09-02, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
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