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International Evidence On Sticky Consumption Growth

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  • Christopher D. Carroll
  • Jiri Slacalek
  • Martin Sommer

Abstract

We estimate the degree of 'stickiness' in aggregate consumption growth (sometimes interpreted as reflecting consumption habits) for thirteen advanced economies. We find that, after controlling for measurement error, consumption growth has a high degree of autocorrelation, with a stickiness parameter of about 0.7 on average across countries. The sticky-consumption-growth model outperforms the random walk model of Hall (1978), and typically fits the data better than the popular Campbell and Mankiw (1989) model. In several countries, the sticky-consumption-growth and Campbell-Mankiw models work about equally well.

Suggested Citation

  • Christopher D. Carroll & Jiri Slacalek & Martin Sommer, 2008. "International Evidence On Sticky Consumption Growth," Economics Working Paper Archive 542, The Johns Hopkins University,Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:jhu:papers:542
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • F41 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - Open Economy Macroeconomics

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