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Quarterly Journal of Economics Vol. 105 No. 2 1990

Real Money Balances and the Timing of Consumption: An Empirical Investigation

E. Koenig

Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas

Abstract

This paper examines the correlation between changes in consumer spending on nondurables and services, and levels or changes in a variety of other variables that might be expected to enter directly as arguments of the household utility function or to serve as measures of household liquidity. Empirical results strongly suggest that an increase in real money balances raises the marginal utility of consumption. Once the influence of real balances is accounted for, there is little evidence that other variables have a direct impact on the timing of consumption.

DOI
10.2307/2937793
Volume
105
Issue
2
Pages
399
Sources
openalex crossref

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