Private Consumption, Inflation and the "Debt Neutrality Hypothesis": The Case of Eight OECD Countries

This paper examines the empirical basis for the debt-neutrality hypothesis in an international cross-section of eight major OECD countries over the period 1961-85. The analysis uses a dynamic demand system for durable and non-durable goods derived from individual optimizing behaviour. The model nest...

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1. Verfasser: Nicoletti, Giuseppe (VerfasserIn)
Format: Elektronisch E-Book
Sprache:English
Veröffentlicht: Paris OECD Publishing 1988
Schriftenreihe:OECD Economics Department Working Papers no.50
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Zusammenfassung:This paper examines the empirical basis for the debt-neutrality hypothesis in an international cross-section of eight major OECD countries over the period 1961-85. The analysis uses a dynamic demand system for durable and non-durable goods derived from individual optimizing behaviour. The model nests three specifications corresponding to different degrees of consumer rationality: the traditional life-cycle consumption model, the case of inflation-adjustment of disposable income (no money illusion) and the case of full "tax discounting" (no fiscal illusion). In addition, the model incorporates explicitly the role of a variable interest rate and substitution between public and private consumption. The model is estimated using three different consumption aggregates at the single-country level and over the pooled data set. Estimates of the inflation-adjustment and fiscal illusion parameters are provided and specification tests opposing the three versions of the model are performed. The ...
Beschreibung:1 Online-Ressource (98 p.) 21 x 29.7cm.
DOI:10.1787/012554655282