Estimating discount functions with consumption choices over the lifecycle

Estimating discount functions with consumptio ...
David I. Laibson, David I. Lai ...
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December 15, 2009 | History

Estimating discount functions with consumption choices over the lifecycle

Intertemporal preferences are difficult to measure. We estimate time preferences using a structural buffer stock consumption model and the Method of Simulated Moments. The model includes stochastic labor income, liquidity constraints, child and adult dependents, liquid and illiquid assets, revolving credit, retirement, and discount functions that allow short-run and long-run discount rates to differ. Data on retirement wealth accumulation, credit card borrowing, and consumption-income comovement identify the model. Our benchmark estimates imply a 40% short-term annualized discount rate and a 4.3% long-term annualized discount rate. Almost all specifications reject the restriction to a constant discount rate. Our quantitative results are sensitive to assumptions about the return on illiquid assets and the coefficient of relative risk aversion. When we jointly estimate the coefficient of relative risk aversion and the discount function, the short-term discount rate is 15% and the long-term discount rate is 3.8%.

Publish Date
Language
English
Pages
41

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Book Details


Edition Notes

"August 2007"

Includes bibliographical references (p. 36-41).

Also available in PDF from the NBER World Wide Web site (www.nber.org).

Published in
Cambridge, Mass
Series
NBER working paper series -- no. 13314., Working paper series (National Bureau of Economic Research) -- working paper no. 13314.

The Physical Object

Pagination
41, [8] p. :
Number of pages
41

Edition Identifiers

Open Library
OL17635295M
OCLC/WorldCat
173282285

Work Identifiers

Work ID
OL12234103W

Source records

Oregon Libraries MARC record

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December 15, 2009 Edited by WorkBot link works
April 25, 2009 Edited by ImportBot add OCLC number
September 29, 2008 Created by ImportBot Imported from Oregon Libraries MARC record