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We argue that poverty can perpetuate itself by undermining the capacity for self-control. In line with a distinguished psychological literature, we consider modes of selfcontrol that involve the self-imposed use of contingent punishments and rewards. We study settings in which consumers with quasi-hyperbolic preferences confront an otherwise standard intertemporal allocation problem with credit constraints. Our main result demonstrates that low initial assets can limit self-control, trapping people in poverty, while individuals with high initial assets can accumulate indefinitely. Thus, even temporary policies that initiate accumulation among the poor may be effective. We examine implications concerning the effect of access to credit on saving, the demand for commitment devices, the design of financial accounts to promote accumulation, and the variation of the marginal propensity to consume across income from different sources. We also explore the nature of optimal self-control, demonstrating that it has a simple and behaviorally plausible structure that is immune to self-renegotiation.

In a model calibrated to match micro- and macroeconomic evidence on household income dynamics, we show that a modest degree of heterogeneity in household preferences or beliefs is sufficient to match empirical measures of wealth inequality in the United States. The heterogeneity-augmented model's predictions are consistent with microeconomic evidence that suggests that the annual marginal propensity to consume (MPC) is much larger than the roughly 0.04 im- plied by commonly used macroeconomic models (even ones including some heterogeneity). The high MPC arises because many consumers hold little wealth despite having a strong precautionary motive. Our model also plausibly predicts that the aggregate MPC can differ greatly depending on how the shock is distributed across households (depending, e.g., on their wealth, or employment status).

We use responses to survey questions in the 2010 Italian Survey of Household Income and Wealth that ask consumers how much of an unexpected transitory income change they would consume. The marginal propensity to consume (MPC) is 48 percent on average. We also find substantial heterogeneity in the distribution, as households with low cash-on-hand exhibit a much higher MPC than affluent households, which is in agreement with models with precautionary savings, where income risk plays an important role. The results have important implications for predicting household responses to tax reforms and redistributive policies.

This paper presents a simple new method for measuring \"wealth effects\" on aggregate consumption. The method exploits the stickiness of consumption growth (sometimes interpreted as reflecting consumption \"habits\") to distinguish between immediate and eventual wealth effects. In U.S. data, we estimate that the immediate (next quarter) marginal propensity to consume from a $1 change in housing wealth is about 2 cents, with a final eventual effect around 9 cents, substantially larger than the effect of shocks to financial wealth. We argue that our method is preferable to cointegration-based approaches, because neither theory nor evidence supports faith in the existence of a stable cointegrating vector.

Using data from a randomized experiment, we find that poor rural Mexican households invested part of their cash transfers from the Oportunidades program in productive assets, increasing agricultural income by almost 10 percent after 18 months of benefits. We estimate that for each peso transferred, households consume 74 cents and invest the rest, permanently increasing long-term consumption by about 1.6 cents. Results suggest that cash transfers can achieve long-term increases in consumption through investment in productive activities, thereby permitting beneficiary households to attain higher living standards that are sustained even after transitioning off the program.

In an effort to bolster economic performance in light of a looming downturn in economic activity, on February 13, 2008, President George W Bush signed the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008. More than two-thirds of the $152 billion bill consisted of economic stimulus payments to be sent beginning in May to approximately 130 million households. The effect of these stimulus payments depends on how much was spent. This paper reports new survey evidence on the propensity of consumers to spend the 2008 rebate. It also relates the survey evidence to aggregate data and to evidence about spending from the 2001 tax rebate.

Economists have strong theoretical predictions about how in-kind transfers, such as providing vouchers for food, impact consumption. Despite the prominence of the theory, there is little empirical work on responses to in-kind transfers, and most existing work fails to support the canonical theoretical model. We employ difference-in-difference methods to estimate the impact of program introduction on food spending. Consistent with predictions, we find that food stamps reduce out-of-pocket food spending and increase overall food expenditures. We also find that households are inframarginal and respond similarly to one dollar in cash income and one dollar in food stamps.

This study aims to construct a sound theory of consumption convergence and empirically test its viability. To do this, we employ a Solovian framework in which the Keynesian exogenous savings-consumption allocation rule plays a crucial role. We demonstrate that consumption convergence performance is determined by both the average propensity to save (the indirect effect) and the average propensity to consume (the direct effect). In the empirical section, we use a system GMM estimator to test our consumption convergence equation on a panel data set of 177 countries and four income groups from 1970 to 2019. Our empirical findings indicate (i) absolute consumption convergence within high- and low-income country groups; (ii) strong evidence of conditional consumption convergence within high-, upper-middle-, and lower-middle-income groups; (iii) a robust and significant effect of the average propensity to save on the convergence process in high-, upper-middle-, and lower-middle-income groups; and (iv) a more robust and significant effect of the average propensity to consume in upper-middle- and lower-middle-income countries. In summary, we find that as income rises, the indirect impact plays a larger role in explaining consumption convergence, whereas the direct effect plays a smaller role. The policy implication of this conclusion is that policy makers in upper-middle- and lower-middle-income countries should restore the balance in the tradeoff between current and future consumption in favor of savings, as the former will harm consumption convergence within each middle-income group.

The importance of dynamics in housing value and its impact on the aggregate consumption was a highlight of the global financial crisis. Although the theoretical relationship has been analyzed by various authors, the empirical facts in Europe remain fragmented and ambiguous. To support the discussion with an empirical facts, I use detailed household level data from the Household Finance and Consumption Survey to identify the causal effect of house price changes on the consumer spending. To account for possible endogeneity problems, I create an instrumental variable that allows me to examine the relationship between house price changes and the aggregate consumption on the subsample of European countries. In line with other literature, my results identify heterogeneities across different households based on their housing status. The results also show that a 1 € increase in home values leads to a 0.126 € increase in expenditure for homeowners in general and 0.187 € for homeowners with mortgages in particular. Finally, the results reflect large responses among credit-constrained households, suggesting that borrowing constraints are one of the key drivers of the marginal propensity to consume (MPC) from housing wealth.

This paper advances our understanding of consumption behavior using the 2009 Taiwan Shopping Voucher Program. This program was universal and well publicized, and its payment to each individual was medium-sized. Based on survey data, it is found that the marginal propensity to consume is about one quarter, which is comparable to findings obtained by previous studies on consumers' response to fiscal stimulus payments. Further, vendors' discounts for voucher users played a significant role in boosting the effectiveness of the program.