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Old folks and spoiled brats : Why the baby boomers' saving crisis need not be that bad

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  • Monika BÜTLER
  • Philipp HARMS

Abstract

We study the impact of an anticipated "baby boom" in an overlapping generations economy. The rise of the working population lowers the wage, and the high demand for assets causes a rise in the price of capital which will be reversed when the baby boomers leave the work-force. However, the swings in factor prices are substantially dampened if we allow for more than two generations, endogenous labor supply, and convex capital adjustment costs. This is mainly due to the intertemporal shifts in labor market participation that can be observed if agents work for more than one period. Optimal saving and labor supply decisions of the baby boomers' preceding and subsequent generations partly offset the impact of the unfavorable demographic shock. Accordingly, the impact of a baby boom on the welfare of different generations crucially depends on the elasticity of labor supply.

Suggested Citation

  • Monika BÜTLER & Philipp HARMS, 2001. "Old folks and spoiled brats : Why the baby boomers' saving crisis need not be that bad," Cahiers de Recherches Economiques du Département d'économie 01.07, Université de Lausanne, Faculté des HEC, Département d’économie.
    • Handle: RePEc:lau:crdeep:01.07
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Lucas, Robert E, Jr, 1978. "Asset Prices in an Exchange Economy," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 46(6), pages 1429-1445, November.
    2. Andrew B. Abel, 2003. "The Effects of a Baby Boom on Stock Prices and Capital Accumulation in the Presence of Social Security," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 71(2), pages 551-578, March.
    3. George M. Constantinides & John B. Donaldson & Rajnish Mehra, 2002. "Junior Can't Borrow: A New Perspective on the Equity Premium Puzzle," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 117(1), pages 269-296.
    4. Ríos-Rull José-Víctor, 2001. "Population Changes and Capital Accumulation: The Aging of the Baby Boom," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 1(1), pages 1-48, May.
    5. Michael Magill & Martine Quinzii, "undated". "The Stock Market in the Overlapping Generations," Department of Economics 99-13, California Davis - Department of Economics.
    6. Basu, Parantap, 1987. "An Adjustment Cost Model of Asset Pricing," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 28(3), pages 609-621, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. John Geanakoplos & Michael Magill & Martine Quinzii, 2003. "Demography and the Long Run Behavior of the Stock Market," Levine's Working Paper Archive 506439000000000269, David K. Levine.
    2. Author-Name: John Geanakoplos & Michael Magill & Martine Quinzii, 2004. "Demography and the Long-Run Predictability of the Stock Market," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 35(1), pages 241-326.
    3. Philipp Harms & Philipp Meulen, 2012. "The demographics of expropriation risk," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 25(3), pages 809-832, July.
    4. Borgmann, Christoph, 2002. "Labor income risk, demographic risk, and the design of (wage-indexed) social security," Discussion Papers 100, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Institut für Finanzwissenschaft.
    5. Garry Young, 2002. "The implications of an ageing population for the UK economy," Bank of England working papers 159, Bank of England.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    baby boom; asset prices; labour market adjustments;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E2 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment
    • E6 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook

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