IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/jecmet/v14y2007i2p227-248.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A structure of the consumption function

Author

Listed:
  • Hsiang-Ke Chao

Abstract

It is claimed in the structural realism in philosophy of science that scientists aim to preserve the true structure, represented by the equations in their models. We reinterpret structural realism as a doctrine involving representation. Proving the existence of a representation theorem secures the problem of lacking independent criteria for identification between structure and non-structure. This paper argues that a similar realist view of structure can be found in the theory of consumption in which the Fisherian framework of intertemporal choices is regarded as the true structure of the consumption function. Unlike the passive strategy of inducing the structure contained in structural realism, economists define structure in terms of invariance under intervention. Such a definition serves as a crucial device to examine and develop models for the adequacy of representing the structure of the consumption functions. JEL Classification: B22, B41, C50, E21

Suggested Citation

  • Hsiang-Ke Chao, 2007. "A structure of the consumption function," Journal of Economic Methodology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(2), pages 227-248.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:jecmet:v:14:y:2007:i:2:p:227-248
    DOI: 10.1080/13501780701394102
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13501780701394102
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/13501780701394102?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Simon Kuznets, 1946. "Introduction, National Income: A Summary of Findings," NBER Chapters, in: National Income: A Summary of Findings, pages 1-2, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Hendry,David F. & Morgan,Mary S., 1997. "The Foundations of Econometric Analysis," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521588706, January.
    3. Granger,Clive W. J., 1999. "Empirical Modeling in Economics," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521662086, January.
    4. Angus Deaton, 2005. "Franco Modigliani and the life-cycle theory of consumption," BNL Quarterly Review, Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, vol. 58(233-234), pages 91-107.
    5. Simon Kuznets, 1946. "National Income: A Summary of Findings," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number kuzn46-2.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ebadi Esmaeil & Are Wasiu, 2023. "Reinvestigating the U.S. Consumption Function: A Nonlinear Autoregressive Distributed Lags Approach," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment Journal, De Gruyter, vol. 17(1), pages 1-22, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. David F. Hendry, 2020. "A Short History of Macro-econometric Modelling," Economics Papers 2020-W01, Economics Group, Nuffield College, University of Oxford.
    2. Chad Turner & Robert Tamura & Sean Mulholland & Scott Baier, 2007. "Education and income of the states of the United States: 1840–2000," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 12(2), pages 101-158, June.
    3. O'Donnell, Gus & Oswald, Andrew J., 2015. "National well-being policy and a weighted approach to human feelings," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 59-70.
    4. Meyer, Donald J. & Meyer, Jack, 2005. "Risk preferences in multi-period consumption models, the equity premium puzzle, and habit formation utility," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(8), pages 1497-1515, November.
    5. Bardsen, Gunnar & Eitrheim, Oyvind & Jansen, Eilev S. & Nymoen, Ragnar, 2005. "The Econometrics of Macroeconomic Modelling," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199246502.
    6. Podshivalov, Georgii, 2019. "Observing the Evolution in Macroeconomic Theory," MPRA Paper 97657, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Bokana K.G & Kabongo W.N.S, 2018. "Modelling Real Private Consumption Expenditure in South Africa to Test the Absolute Income Hypothesis," Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, AMH International, vol. 10(5), pages 138-155.
    8. Juanita Cifuentes González & John Werner Meisterl Reyes, "undated". "El Ahorro de los Hogares Colombianos: un análisis microeconómico mediante regresión cuantílica," Vniversitas Económica 12541, Universidad Javeriana - Bogotá.
    9. Simone Caschili & Francesca Medda & Alan Wilson, 2015. "An Interdependent Multi-Layer Model: Resilience of International Networks," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 313-335, June.
    10. Yener Coskun & Burak Sencer Atasoy & Giacomo Morri & Esra Alp, 2018. "Wealth Effects on Household Final Consumption: Stock and Housing Market Channels," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 6(2), pages 1-32, June.
    11. Martin Mandel & Vladimír Tomšík, 2003. "Spotřební funkce a princip Ricardovské ekvivalence v malé otevřené ekonomice [The consumption function and Ricardian equivalence in a small open economy]," Politická ekonomie, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2003(4), pages 517-532.
    12. Kontana Dimitra & Fountas Stilianos, 2022. "Consumption, personal income, financial wealth, housing wealth, and long-term interest rates: a panel cointegration approach for 50 US states," Studies in Nonlinear Dynamics & Econometrics, De Gruyter, vol. 26(3), pages 417-435, June.
    13. Yacouba Gnegne, 2024. "Assessing Sustainable Development: Toward a Portfolio of Indices?," Journal of Sustainable Development, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 12(4), pages 225-225, July.
    14. Eilev S. Jansen, 2002. "Statistical Issues in Macroeconomic Modelling," Scandinavian Journal of Statistics, Danish Society for Theoretical Statistics;Finnish Statistical Society;Norwegian Statistical Association;Swedish Statistical Association, vol. 29(2), pages 193-213, June.
    15. Muhammad Mazhar Iqbal, 2015. "Inclusive Growth with Zakat," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 54(4), pages 997-1010.
    16. Koval, Pavel & Polbin , Andrey, 2020. "Evaluation of permanent and transitory shocks role in consumption and income dynamics in the Russian Federation," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 57, pages 6-29.
    17. Ramskiy Andrey Yu., 2013. "Essence of Saving Processes in Household and their Influence upon Extended Reproduction of GDP," Business Inform, RESEARCH CENTRE FOR INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT PROBLEMS of NAS (KHARKIV, UKRAINE), Kharkiv National University of Economics, issue 3, pages 21-29.
    18. M. Joseph Sirgy & Alex C. Michalos & Abbott L. Ferriss & Richard A. Easterlin & Donald Patrick & William Pavot, 2006. "The Quality-of-Life (QOL) Research Movement: Past, Present, and Future," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 76(3), pages 343-466, May.
    19. Matthieu Cristelli & Andrea Tacchella & Luciano Pietronero, 2015. "The Heterogeneous Dynamics of Economic Complexity," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(2), pages 1-15, February.
    20. Dale W. Jorgenson & J. Steven Landefeld, 2006. "Blueprint for Expanded and Integrated US Accounts: Review, Assessment, and Next Steps," NBER Chapters, in: A New Architecture for the US National Accounts, pages 13-112, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    consumption function; Euler-equation approach; invariance; representation; structure; structural realism;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B22 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - Macroeconomics
    • B41 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Economic Methodology - - - Economic Methodology
    • C50 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - General
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:jecmet:v:14:y:2007:i:2:p:227-248. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/RJEC20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.