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Precautionary Wealth Accumulation: A Positive Third Derivative is not Enough

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Abstract

It is commonly conjectured that expected wealth accumulation increases when earnings risk increases as long as the utility function in each period is increasing, concave and has a positive third derivative. We present a counter example which highlights the importance of the convexity of the savings function.

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  • Mark Huggett and Edouard Vidon, 2003. "Precautionary Wealth Accumulation: A Positive Third Derivative is not Enough," Working Papers gueconwpa~03-03-11, Georgetown University, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:geo:guwopa:gueconwpa~03-03-11
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    1. Kimball, Miles S, 1990. "Precautionary Saving in the Small and in the Large," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 58(1), pages 53-73, January.
    2. Miller, Bruce L., 1976. "The effect on optimal consumption of increased uncertainty in labor income in the multiperiod case," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 154-167, August.
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    4. Carroll, Christopher D & Kimball, Miles S, 1996. "On the Concavity of the Consumption Function," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 64(4), pages 981-992, July.
    5. Mark Huggett, 2004. "Precautionary Wealth Accumulation," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 71(3), pages 769-781.
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    9. Hayne E. Leland, 1968. "Saving and Uncertainty: The Precautionary Demand for Saving," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 82(3), pages 465-473.
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    13. Caballero, Ricardo J, 1991. "Earnings Uncertainty and Aggregate Wealth Accumulation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 81(4), pages 859-871, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Andrew B Abel & Stavros Panageas, 2023. "Precautionary Saving in a Financially Constrained Firm," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 36(7), pages 2878-2921.
    2. Suen, Richard M. H., 2011. "Concave consumption function and precautionary wealth accumulation," MPRA Paper 34774, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Mark Huggett, 2004. "Precautionary Wealth Accumulation," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 71(3), pages 769-781.
    4. Henrik Vetter, 2014. "Ad Valorem versus Unit Taxes in Oligopoly and Endogenous Market Conduct," Public Finance Review, , vol. 42(4), pages 532-551, July.
    5. Ghiglino, Christian, 2005. "Wealth inequality and dynamic stability," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 124(1), pages 106-115, September.
    6. Feigenbaum, James, 2011. "Precautionary saving or denied dissaving," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 1559-1572, July.
    7. Wills, Samuel, 2018. "Leave the volatility fund alone: Principles for managing oil wealth," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 332-352.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D80 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - General
    • D90 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - General
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth

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