000			02793cam a22003497 4500
001			w12388
003			NBER
005			20211020112245.0
006			m o d
007			cr cnu||||||||
008			210910s2006 mau fo 000 0 eng d
100	1		_aCharles, Kerwin Kofi. _97827
245	1	4	_aThe Level and Composition of Consumption Over the Business Cycle: _bThe Role of "Quasi-Fixed" Expenditures / _cKerwin Kofi Charles, Melvin Stephens, Jr..
260			_aCambridge, Mass. _bNational Bureau of Economic Research _c2006.
300			_a1 online resource: _billustrations (black and white);
490	1		_aNBER working paper series _vno. w12388
500			_aJuly 2006.
520	3		_aWe study how the level and composition of household expenditures changes over the business cycle for households at different positions in the income distribution. Using data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey, we find that transitory, state-specific increases in unemployment causes lower income groups to lower their total expenditure outlays, contrary to the prediction of the textbook account of consumption behavior. In addition, in bad economic times these groups raise the share of their total outlays devoted to relative fixed outlays like home or car payments. These adjustments are primarily concentrated among reductions in outlays devoted to entertainment and personal care expenditures. We find no similar effects for households at higher positions in the income distribution. It is difficult to attribute these differences across households to differences in credit constraints, both because the specific results for credit holdings are imprecisely estimated and because income losses experienced by higher SES households are so small that there is, for them, little need to adjust consumption.
530			_aHardcopy version available to institutional subscribers
538			_aSystem requirements: Adobe [Acrobat] Reader required for PDF files.
538			_aMode of access: World Wide Web.
588	0		_aPrint version record
690		7	_aD12 - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis _2Journal of Economic Literature class.
690		7	_aE21 - Consumption • Saving • Wealth _2Journal of Economic Literature class.
690		7	_aE24 - Employment • Unemployment • Wages • Intergenerational Income Distribution • Aggregate Human Capital • Aggregate Labor Productivity _2Journal of Economic Literature class.
700	1		_aStephens, Melvin, Jr.
710	2		_aNational Bureau of Economic Research.
830		0	_aWorking Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) _vno. w12388.
856	4	0	_uhttps://www.nber.org/papers/w12388
856			_yAcceso en línea al DOI _uhttp://dx.doi.org/10.3386/w12388
942			_2ddc _cW-PAPER
999			_c335754 _d294316