Testing the Optimality of Consumption Decisions of the Representative Household: Evidence from Brazil

Gesteira, Marcos and Carrasco Gutierrez, Carlos Enrique (2015): Testing the Optimality of Consumption Decisions of the Representative Household: Evidence from Brazil. Forthcoming in: Brazilian Review of Economics (2015)

Abstract

This paper investigates whether there is a fraction of consumers that do not behave as fully forward-looking optimal consumers in the Brazilian economy. The generalized method of moments technique was applied to nonlinear Euler equations of the consumption-based capital assets model contemplating utility functions with time separability and non-separability. The results show that when the household utility function was modeled as constant relative risk aversion, external habits and Kreps-Porteus, estimates of the fraction of rule-of-thumb households was, respectively, 89%, 78% and 22%. According to this, a portion of disposable income goes to households who consume their current incomes in violation of the permanent income hypothesis.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Rule of thumb; aggregate consumption; permanent income hypothesis, Euler equations.
• Subjects: C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods > C3 - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models ; Multiple Variables > C32 - Time-Series Models ; Dynamic Quantile Regressions ; Dynamic Treatment Effect Models ; Diffusion Processes ; State Space Models; E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics > E2 - Consumption, Saving, Production, Investment, Labor Markets, and Informal Economy > E21 - Consumption ; Saving ; Wealth

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