The Self-Constrained Hand-to-Mouth

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Gelman, Michael
• 署名单位: Claremont Colleges; Claremont McKenna College; Claremont Graduate University
• 刊物名称: REVIEW OF ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0034-6535
• DOI: 10.1162/rest_a_01026
• 发表日期: 2022-09
• 页码: 1096-1109
• 关键词: consumption evidence; smooth consumption; income

摘要

Many studies have shown that consumption responds to the arrival of predictable income (excess sensitivity). This paper uses a buffer stock model of consumption to understand what causes excess sensitivity and to test which parameterization is consistent with empirical excess sensitivity estimates. Using high-frequency granular data from a personal finance app, I find that while liquidity constraints are a proximate cause, preferences are the ultimate cause of excess sensitivity. Furthermore, it finds that for feasible parameters, a quasi-hyperbolic version of the model is more consistent with the level of excess sensitivity relative to a standard exponential model.