Is Consumption Growth Consistent with Intertemporal Optimization? Evidence from the Consumer Expenditure Survey
利用美国家庭层面的非耐用品支出数据，检验跨期优化模型的预测是否成立，发现放宽偏好假设后，数据与模型一致，并指出使用总消费或加总数据可能产生误导。
In this paper, the authors show that some of the predictions of models of consumer intertemporal optimization are in line with the patterns of nondurable expenditure observed in U.S. household-level data. They propose a flexible specification of preferences that allows multiple commodities and yields empirically tractable equations. The authors estimate preference parameters using the only U.S. micro data set with complete consumption information. They show that previous rejections can be explained by the simplifying assumptions made in previous studies. The authors also show that results obtained using good consumption or aggregate data can be misleading. Copyright 1995 by University of Chicago Press.