Cyclical Attention to Saving

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Macaulay, Alistair
• 署名单位: University of Surrey
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-MACROECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7707
• DOI: 10.1257/mac.20220311
• 发表日期: 2025
• 关键词: rational inattention; monetary-policy; business-cycle; INFORMATION; DYNAMICS; returns; search; prices

摘要

I explore the business-cycle implications of household inattention to savings product choices. In a model with heterogeneous banks, savers pay more attention to their bank choice when the marginal utility of income is high. Consistent with this, in data from the United Kingdom retail savings market, I find savers more reliably choose products closer to the top of the available interest rate distribution during contractions. Countercyclical attention amplifies shocks to consumption: after contractionary shocks, attention rises, so savers experience higher interest rates, which further reduces consumption. In a quantitative New Keynesian model, this amplification increases the variance of consumption by 13.6 percent. (JEL E12, E32, E43, E71, G21, G51)