Household Dynamics: Economic Growth and Policy / Edition 1

by William A. Lord

Overview

Household Dynamics: Economic Growth and Policy uniquely integrates dynamic decision making by households, the collective implications of those decisions for economic growth and inequality, and their consequences for policy. Written by a prominent author in the field, Household Dynamics develops intertemporal models of consumption, saving, human capital accumulation, investments in children, intergenerational transfers, division of labor, and fertility. The implications of these models are then assessed intuitively-without econometrics-in terms of the empirical literature. This furthers a rich microeconomic analysis of tax, transfer, and social insurance policies. Household decisions are crucial inputs into the formulation of economic growth models. A variety of general equilibrium growth frameworks are developed, each selecting from among human and physical capital accumulation, population growth, and technical change. These are employed to address earnings inequality, transitional dynamics, and longer-term neoclassical and endogenous growth. Fiscal policy applications include generational accounting, Social Security, and income taxation. Household Dynamics is a clear and accessible text appropriate for advanced undergraduate- and graduate-level courses. Although the models are developed in-depth, the analysis presupposes only a solid grounding in intermediate economic theory and exposure to the fundamental concepts of differential calculus. The emphasis on recent results, the depth of analysis, and the breadth of topics integrated also make this book a valuable reference for researchers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195129014
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	10/04/2001
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	400
Product dimensions:	8.80(w) x 7.10(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

University of Maryland, Baltimore

Table of Contents

PrefaceAcknowledgments1. Consumption and Saving, I1.1 The Basic Model of Intertemporal Choice. 1.2 Empirical Implications of the Basic Model. 1.3 The Role of Future Earnings: An Introduction. 1.4 Policy Applications. 1.5 Summary. 2. Consumption and Saving, II2.1 More on the Response of Savings to the Interest Rate. 2.2 Uncertain Income and Precautionary Saving. 2.3 Uncertainty About Age at Death. 2.4 Habit Formation. 2.5 Summary. Appendix: Uncertainty and Insurance. 3. Neoclassical Growth Theory3.1 Steady State Growth in a Neoclassical Growth Model. 3.2 Transitional Growth and the Principle of Transition Dynamics. 3.3 Capital's Share and the Importance of Transitional Growth. 3.4 Development Explaining Accounting: the Cross-Country Distribution of Income. 3.5 Accounting for Growth and Productivity. 3.6 Summary. 4. Intergenerational Fiscal Policy and Capital Accumulation4.1 Dynamic Efficiency and the Golden Rule. 4.2 Fiscal Policy and Capital Accumulation. 4.3 Increasing the Size of Government. 4.4 Implications of Government Finance. 4.5 Social Security. 4.6 Income Taxation. 4.7 Summary. 5. Intergenerational Financial Transfers5.1 Theory of Altruistically Motivated Financial Transfers. 5.2 Implications and Evidence. 5.3 Competing Explanations of Transfers. 5.4 The Contribution of Financial Transfers to Aggregate Wealth. 5.5 Policy Applications. 5.6 Summary. 6. Family Investments in Children, Child Earnings, and Economic Growth6.1 A Model of Human Capital Bequests. 6.2 Empirical Implications and Evidence. 6.3 The Contribution of Education to U.S. Growth from 1870 to 1970. 6.4 Policy Applications. 6.5 Summary. 7. Skill Acquisition, Inequality, and Growth7.1 Human Capital Accumulation in Adulthood. 7.2 Evaluating the Ben-Porath Model. 7.3 Wage Inequality and Skill-biased Technical Change. 7.4 Human Capital and Economic Growth. 7.5 Taxation and Human Capital Accumulation. 7.6 Summary. 8. The Allocation of time Between Home and Market Over the Life Cycle8.1 The Demand for Leisure and the Supply of Labor. 8.2 Household Production. 8.3 Market Work, Home Production, and Leisure. 8.4 Increased Female Labor Force participation and Economic Growth. 8.5 Policy Applications. 8.6 Summary. 9. Household Fertility and Economic Growth9.1 Income and the Quantity and Quality of Children. 9.2 The Value of Women's Time, Work, and Fertility. 9.3 Fertility and Marital Status. 9.4 From Subsistence to Modern Growth. 9.5 Summary.