• Media type: E-Article
  • Title: The Self-Constrained Hand-to-Mouth
  • Contributor: Gelman, Michael
  • imprint: MIT Press, 2022
  • Published in: The Review of Economics and Statistics
  • Language: English
  • DOI: 10.1162/rest_a_01026
  • ISSN: 0034-6535; 1530-9142
  • Origination:
  • Footnote:
  • Description: <jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>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.</jats:p>