Authors
Francisco Alvarez‐Cuadrado, Mayssun El‐Attar Vilalta
Publication date
2018/12
Journal
Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics
Volume
80
Issue
6
Pages
1029-1061
Description
Over the last three decades, the average income for the bottom half of the US distribution increased by 8% while their average saving rate decreased by 8 percentage points. Over the same period, the US experienced a substantial increase in inequality and a continuous decrease in the aggregate saving rate. We propose an explanation based on interpersonal comparisons consistent with these trends. When households care about their consumption relative to others, individual saving rates decrease with reference income while aggregate saving decreases with income inequality. We provide evidence from the PSID and a panel of OECD countries consistent with these predictions.
Total citations
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Scholar articles
F Alvarez‐Cuadrado, M El‐Attar Vilalta - Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 2018