This paper investigates the empirical performance of intertemporal optimization models that relax the restriction imposed by expected utility that risk aversion and intertemporal substitution are negatively related. The authors estimate a system of rates of return and consumption growth...

Two competing explanations of the UK consumer boom in the late 1980s are the financial liberalization-imperfect housing market hypothesis of Muellbauer and Murphy and the hypothesis of King. We use 15 years of Family Expenditure Surveys, and cohort analysis, to investigate to what extent these...

Using data from 12 European countries and the variation across countries and over time in the changes of minimum school leaving age, we study the effects of the quantity of education on the distribution of earnings. We find that compulsory school reforms significantly affect educational...

In many research areas it is desirable to have information on household total expenditure ('consumption'). We draw evidence from several sources on the usefulness of recall consumption questions. We conclude that valid information can be collected by adding specific recall questions to general...

Friedman's book on the consumption function is one of the great works of Economics demonstrating how the interplay between theoretical ideas and data analysis can lead to major policy implications. We present a short review of Friedman's permanent income hypothesis, the origins of the idea and...

The definition of labor force participation in the standard labor supply model stands in sharp contrast to that used in compiling the labor force statistics. In standard labor supply models, only those supplying positive hours of work are considered to be labor force participants. On the other...

This mix of state and private pension provision in the United Kingdom provides a rare degree of variation in pension incentives for retirement. Using a sample of individuals from the UK Retirement Survey, the paper models the probability of retirement in terms of the incentives underlying the...