This paper examines the sources of stickiness in aggregate consumption growth. We first derive a dynamic consumption equation which encompasses many recent developments in consumption theory: habit formation, intertemporal substitution effects, consumption based on current income, and...

This paper introduces two easy to calculate estimators with desirable properties for the autoregressive parameter in dynamic panel data models. The estimators are (nearly) unbiased and perform satisfactorily even for small samples in either the time-series or cross-section dimension.

We investigate the cyclicality of the private savings to GDP ratio for a panel of 19 OECD countries over the period 1971-2009. We find robust evidence that the private savings ratio is countercyclical. Three theories unambiguously predict a higher private savings ratio during recessions: a...

This paper examines the sources of stickiness in aggregate consumption growth. We first derive a dynamic consumption equation which encompasses many recent developments in consumption theory: habit formation, intertemporal substitution effects, consumption based on current income, and...

This paper introduces two easy to calculate estimators with desirable properties for theautoregressive parameter in dynamic panel data models. The estimators are (nearly) unbiased andperform satisfactorily even for small samples in either the time-series or cross-section dimension.