This paper provides a critical survey of the large literature on the life cycle model of consumption, both from an empirical and a theoretical point of view. It discusses several approaches that have been taken in the literature to bring the model to the data, their empirical successes and failures. Finally, the paper reviews a number of changes to the standard life cycle model that could help solve the remaining empirical puzzles.
Authors
![Orazio Attanasio](/sites/default/files/styles/square_desktop/public/2022-06/Orazio_Attanasio.jpg?itok=Anbs4JXx)
Research Fellow
Orazio is an International Research Fellow at the IFS, a Professor at Yale and a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research.
![Guglielmo Weber](/sites/default/files/styles/square_desktop/public/2022-07/Guglielmo%20Weber.jpg?itok=nqNwcCi-)
Research Associate University of Padua
Guglielmo is a Research Associate at the IFS and Professor in the Department of Economics at the Faculty of Statistics, Padua University.
Journal article details
- DOI
- 10.3386/w15756
- Publisher
- Journal of Economic Literature
- Issue
- Volume 48, No. 3, September 2010, pages 693-751
Suggested citation
Attanasio, O and Weber, G. (2010). 'Consumption and Saving: Models of Intertemporal Allocation and Their Implications for Public Policy' 48, No. 3(2010), pp.693–751.
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