This paper investigates the usefulness of Italian consumer surveys as estimation and forecasting tool over the period 1982-2003. To this end, standard consumption equations are estimated and then compared, in terms of in-sample and out-of-sample predictive ability, with corresponding models...

One of the most important aspects of consumer surveys is the computation of the consumer confidence index, which aims to provide accurate figures on the financial position and outlook of households as well as their intention concerning future consumption and savings. . Although the motion of the...

CAPITAL ACCUMULATION HAS BEEN EMPHASISED AS THE MAJOR FACTOR GOVERING THE RATE OF DEVELOPMENT. THIS STUDY THEREFORE AIMS EXPLORING IN THE LIGHT OF PAST TRENDS, THE ROLE AND SCOPE OF COMMERCIAL BANKS AS FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES IN MOBILIZING DOMESTIC SAVINGS FOR DEVELOPMENT AND THE CONSTRAINTS IN...

A so-called “asset market meltdown hypothesis” predicts that baby boomers’ large savings will drive asset market booms that will eventually collapse because of the boomers’ large retirement dissavings. As good news to baby boomers, our analysis shows that this meltdown hypothesis is...

The literature on household asset accumulation draws a sharp distinction between "short-run" precautionary motives to buffer consumption from annual income shocks, and "long-run" life cycle considerations under income certainty. However, estimates of shock persistence imply considerable career...

De afgelopen jaren bereikten de aandelenkoersen met grote regelmaat nieuwe recordhoogten en zijn de Nederlandse huizenprijzen flink gestegen. De hausse op de aandelen- en huizenmarkt hangt voor een belangrijk deel samen met het gunstige economische klimaat en de relatief lage rente in combinatie...

This paper suggests that skill accumulation through past work experience, or ``learning-by-doing'' (LBD), can provide an important propagation mechanism in a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model, as the current labor supply affects future productivity. Our econometric analysis uses a...

This paper shows that there are striking implications that stem from including durable goods in otherwise conventional sticky price models. The behavior of these models depends heavily on whether durable goods are present and whether these goods have sticky prices. If long-lived durables have...

We use CEX repeated cross-section data on consumption and income, to evaluate the nature of increased income inequality in the 1980s and 90s. We decompose unexpected changes in family income into transitory and permanent, and idiosyncratic and aggregate components, and estimate the contribution...

I explore the dynamics in overlapping generations models with pure exchange and lump-sum taxes, when the second period after tax endowment is negative, and contrast the characteristics of equilibria to those of models with positive after tax endowments. In particular, if the intertemporal...