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A Retrospective on Friedman's Theory of Permanent Income

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  • Costas Meghir

Abstract

Friedman's book on the consumption function is one of the great works of Economics demonstrating how the interplay between theoretical ideas and data analysis can lead to major policy implications. We present a short review of Friedman's permanent income hypothesis, the origins of the idea and its theoretical foundations. We give a brief overview of its influence in modern economics and discuss some relevant empirical results and the way they relate to the original approach taken by Friedman. Copyright 2004 Royal Economic Society.

Suggested Citation

  • Costas Meghir, 2004. "A Retrospective on Friedman's Theory of Permanent Income," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 114(496), pages 293-306, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:ecj:econjl:v:114:y:2004:i:496:p:f293-f306
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    2. Andreas Knabe & Steffen Ratzel, 2011. "Quantifying the psychological costs of unemployment: the role of permanent income," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(21), pages 2751-2763.
    3. Rolf Aaberge & Magne Mogstad, 2009. "On the Measurement of Long-Term Income Inequality and Income Mobility," ICER Working Papers 09-2009, ICER - International Centre for Economic Research.
    4. Effrosyni Adamopoulou & Ezgi Kaya, 2020. "Not just a work permit: EU citizenship and the consumption behaviour of documented and undocumented immigrants," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 53(4), pages 1552-1598, November.
    5. Elliott Fan, 2010. "Does Public Income Induce More Consumption?," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 86(272), pages 15-27, March.
    6. Jemey, Nursyuhada binti & Kasim, Nor Hasniah binti, 2023. "The Impact of Covid-19 on Consumption Patterns Among Malaysian Youths," MPRA Paper 118841, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 26 Sep 2023.
    7. Stavros A. Drakopoulos, 2021. "The marginalization of absolute and relative income hypotheses of consumption and the role of fiscal policy," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(6), pages 965-984, November.
    8. Essig, Lothar, 2004. "Precautionary saving and old-age provisions: Do subjective saving motives measures work?," Sonderforschungsbereich 504 Publications 05-22, Sonderforschungsbereich 504, Universität Mannheim;Sonderforschungsbereich 504, University of Mannheim.
    9. Yang, Guanyi, 2018. "Endogenous Skills and Labor Income Inequality," MPRA Paper 89638, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Sena Durguner, 2018. "Variations in farm consumption and their relationship to income: an empirical investigation of Illinois farm households," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(9), pages 990-1005, February.
    11. Meghir, Costas & Pistaferri, Luigi, 2011. "Earnings, Consumption and Life Cycle Choices," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 9, pages 773-854, Elsevier.
    12. Gamel Abdul-Nasser Salifu, 2019. "The Political Economy Dynamics of Rural Household Income Diversification: A Review of the International Literature," Research in World Economy, Research in World Economy, Sciedu Press, vol. 10(3), pages 273-290, December.
    13. Drakopoulos, Stavros A., 2021. "Theories of Consumption," MPRA Paper 108215, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Mesly, Olivier & Chkir, Imed & Racicot, François-Éric, 2019. "Predatory cells and puzzling financial crises: Are toxic products good for the financial markets?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 11-31.
    15. Stijn Claessens & M Ayhan Kose, 2018. "Frontiers of macrofinancial linkages," BIS Papers, Bank for International Settlements, number 95.
    16. Schulz, Jan & Mayerhoffer, Daniel M., 2021. "A network approach to consumption," BERG Working Paper Series 173, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    17. Lothar Essig, 2005. "Precautionary saving and old-age provisions: Do subjective saving motive measures work?," MEA discussion paper series 05084, Munich Center for the Economics of Aging (MEA) at the Max Planck Institute for Social Law and Social Policy.
    18. Stijn Claessens & M. Ayhan Kose, 2017. "Asset prices and macroeconomic outcomes: A survey," CAMA Working Papers 2017-76, Centre for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University.
    19. Essig, Lothar, 2005. "Precautionary saving and old-age provisions : do subjective saving motives measures work?," Papers 05-22, Sonderforschungsbreich 504.
    20. van Kippersluis, Hans & Galama, Titus J., 2014. "Wealth and health behavior: Testing the concept of a health cost," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 197-220.
    21. Agnieszka Strzelecka & Danuta Zawadzka, 2020. "Why Households Borrow Money? Socio-Economic Factors Affecting Households Debts: A Model Approach," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(Special 2), pages 820-839.
    22. Quan Gan & Robert J. Hill, 2008. "A New Perspective on the Relationship Between House Prices and Income," Discussion Papers 2008-13, School of Economics, The University of New South Wales.
    23. Chavis Ketkaew & Martine Van Wouwe & Preecha Vichitthamaros & Duanpen Teerawanviwat, 2019. "The Effect of Expected Income on Wealth Accumulation and Retirement Contribution of Thai Wageworkers," SAGE Open, , vol. 9(4), pages 21582440198, December.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • B31 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought: Individuals - - - Individuals
    • D11 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Theory
    • H30 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - General

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