Aggregate savings when individual income varies

Individual income , incomplete information , and aggregate consumption

In this paper I study a model of life-cycle consumption in which individuals react optimally to their own income process but ignore economy wide information. Since individual income is less persistent than aggregate income consumers will react too little to aggregate income variation. Aggregate consumption will be excessively smooth. Since aggregate information is slowly incorporated into consu...

Individual versus Aggregate Income Elasticities for Heterogeneous Populations

The paper deals with different concepts of income elasticities of demand for a heterogenous population and the relationship between individual and aggregate elasticities is analyzed. In general, the aggregate elasticity is not equal to the mean of individual elasticities. The difference depends on the heterogeneity of the population and is quantified by a covariance term. Sign and magnitude of ...

Default and aggregate income

This paper studies how default varies with aggregate income. We analyze a model in which optimal contracts enable risk sharing of privately observed, idiosyncratic income by allowing for default. Default provisions allow agents with low idiosyncratic income realizations to repay less and thus provide insurance. Default penalties ensure that only these agents default. We show that default can oc...

Private Pensions and Individual Savings

had their second child expected on t,he average to have 3 children when their families are completed; those who had had a fourth child expected 4.6 children. While these expectations are somewhat, lower than those found among white Detroit area women at comparable parities, there is serious question as to whether they are realistic. Attitudes and use of birth control among the Negro sample lend...

Aggregate Consumers' Expenditure and Income