Learning from Inflation Experiences*

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Malmendier, Ulrike; Nagel, Stefan
• 署名单位: National Bureau of Economic Research; University of California System; University of California Berkeley; University of California System; University of California Berkeley; National Bureau of Economic Research; University of Michigan System; University of Michigan; University of Michigan System; University of Michigan
• 刊物名称: QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0033-5533
• DOI: 10.1093/qje/qjv037
• 发表日期: 2016
• 页码: 53-87
• 关键词: expectations; uncertainty; investors; overconfidence; DISAGREEMENT

摘要

How do individuals form expectations about future inflation? We propose that individuals overweight inflation experienced during their lifetimes. This approach modifies existing adaptive learning models to allow for age-dependent updating of expectations in response to inflation surprises. Young individuals update their expectations more strongly than older individuals since recent experiences account for a greater share of their accumulated lifetime history. We find support for these predictions using 57 years of microdata on inflation expectations from the Reuters/Michigan Survey of Consumers. Differences in experiences strongly predict differences in expectations, including the substantial disagreement between young and old individuals in periods of highly volatile inflation, such as the 1970s. It also explains household borrowing and lending behavior, including the choice of mortgages.