This paper assesses the impact of high household debt on economic volatility in Canada. The debt per se may not necessarily be a risk for economic activity; it can amplify other shocks as well. A few studies have emphasized the link between the growth of household debt before 2007 and the...

This paper examines how durable goods and financial frictions shape the business cycle of a small open economy subject to shocks to trend and transitory shocks. In the data, nondurable consumption is not as volatile as income for both developed and emerging market economies. The simulation of...

This paper provides detailed empirical evidence on the saving behavior of Irish households using micro data from the 1994/95 and 1999/2000 Household Budget Surveys. I employ synthetic cohort techniques to characterize the life cycle profile of saving rates and to examine the response of...