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Corporate Savings and Shareholder Consumption

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  • Alan J. Auerbach
  • Kevin Hassett

Abstract

This paper reexamines the implications of changing corporate savings, testing for the presence of a "corporate veil". We argue that previous tests for such s veil have lacked proper focus, identifying influences of corporate saving on private saving that are entirely consistent with a complete piercing of the corporate veil. We formulate two tests. Results based on the first find that wealth-neutral changes In corporate dividend policy do not significantly affect aggregate consumption, suggesting that no corporate veil exists, The second test finds the aggregate consumption response to changes in corporate wealth is close to zero, consistent with the presence of a veil but also with heterogeneity in the population with respect to consumption behavior.

Suggested Citation

  • Alan J. Auerbach & Kevin Hassett, 1989. "Corporate Savings and Shareholder Consumption," NBER Working Papers 2994, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:2994
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    Cited by:

    1. Charles Calomiris & Stanley D. Longhofer & William Miles, 2009. "The (Mythical?) Housing Wealth Effect," NBER Working Papers 15075, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. David E. Altig, 1990. "The case of the missing interest deductions: will tax reform increase U. S. saving rates?," Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, vol. 26(Q IV), pages 22-34.
    3. Jan Behringer & Till van Treeck, 2023. "The corporate sector and the current account," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 75(3), pages 826-857.
    4. Haubrich, Joseph G, 1993. "Consumption and Fractional Differencing: Old and New Anomalies," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 75(4), pages 767-772, November.
    5. Alan J. Auerbach & Daniel R. Feenberg, 2000. "The Significance of Federal Taxes as Automatic Stabilizers," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 14(3), pages 37-56, Summer.
    6. Mechthild Schrooten & Sabine Stephan, 2001. "Savings in Central Eastern Europe," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 250, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    7. James M. Poterba, 1991. "Dividends, Capital Gains, and the Corporate Veil: Evidence from Britain, Canada, and the United States," NBER Chapters, in: National Saving and Economic Performance, pages 49-74, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Jonathan Skinner & Daniel Feenberg, 1990. "The Impact of the 1986 Tax Reform Act on Personal Saving," NBER Working Papers 3257, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Tomas Havranek & Anna Sokolova, 2016. "Do Consumers Really Follow a Rule of Thumb? Three Thousand Estimates from 130 Studies Say "Probably Not"," Working Papers 2016/08, Czech National Bank.
    10. Alan J. Auerbach & Laurence J. Kotlikoff, 1990. "Demographics, Fiscal Policy, and US Saving in the 1980s and Beyond," NBER Chapters, in: Tax Policy and the Economy: Volume 4, pages 73-102, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Auerbach, Alan J., 1989. "Capital Gains Taxation and Tax Reform," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 42(3), pages 391-401, September.
    12. Weber, Christian E., 2002. "Intertemporal non-separability and "rule of thumb" consumption," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 293-308, March.
    13. Lichtenberg, Frank R., 1995. "Labour market institutions, liquidity constraints, and macroeconomic stability," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 145-154, September.
    14. FUKAO Kyoji & IKEUCHI Kenta & KWON Hyeog Ug & YoungGak KIM & MAKINO Tatsuji & TAKIZAWA Miho, 2015. "Lessons from Japan's Secular Stagnation," Discussion papers 15124, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    15. Dimitra Kontana & Fotios Siokis, 2019. "Revisiting the Relationship between Financial Wealth, Housing Wealth, and Consumption: A Panel Analysis for the U.S," Discussion Paper Series 2019_03, Department of Economics, University of Macedonia, revised May 2019.
    16. Koskela, Erkki & Virén, Matti, 1991. "Household saving, interest rates, inflation and taxation: some cross-country evidence," Bank of Finland Research Discussion Papers 10/1991, Bank of Finland.

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