Wealth Accumulation Over the Life Cycle and Precautionary Savings
构建并模拟了一个生命周期财富积累模型，通过匹配模拟中位财富与调查数据来估计效用函数参数，发现低耐心和高风险厌恶，并指出财富积累在生命周期早期主要由预防性动机驱动。
This article constructs and simulates a life cycle model of wealth accumulation and estimates the parameters of the utility function (the rate of time preference and the coefficient of risk aversion) by matching the simulated median wealth profiles with those observed in the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and in the Survey of Consumer Finances. The estimates imply a low degree of patience and a high degree of risk aversion. The results are used to study the importance of precautionary savings in explaining wealth accumulation. They imply that wealth accumulation is driven mostly by precautionary motives at the beginning of the life cycle, whereas savings for retirement purposes become significant only closer to retirement.