THE RATE OF TIME PREFERENCE AND DYNAMIC ECONOMIC-ANALYSIS
THE RATE OF TIME PREFERENCE AND DYNAMIC ECONOMIC-ANALYSIS
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DOI：
10.1086/261168
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发表时间：
1983-01-01
影响因子：
8.2
通讯作者：
HYNES, JA
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
EPSTEIN, LG;HYNES, JA
对偏好结构的严格限制是公认的跨期分配理论的核心特征。事实上，大多数涉及资本理论问题的现代文献都用函数来表示偏好，其中加性效用函数被恒定的时间偏好率贴现。这个规范很有吸引力，因为它在动态模型中易于分析，并且它清楚地描述了品味和机会如何相互作用来确定经济体（家庭）的消费和资本形成路径。然而，其刚性结构（时间偏好的恒定性）严重限制了相应模型的结论和解释力。本文考虑一类效用函数（在连续时间内），其具有吸引人的特征，即时间偏好率系统地取决于未来总消费指数。这些泛函所体现的更灵活的结构导致了标准结论的重要概括和修改。我们通过研究动态经济分析中的五个基本问题来强调这种额外的丰富性。
Strong restrictions on the structure of preferences are a central feature in the received theory of intertemporal allocation. In fact, most of the modern literature concerned with capital-theoretic problems represents preferences by a functional in which an additive utility function is discounted by a constant rate of time preference. This specification is attractive because it is analytically tractable in dynamic models, and it clearly delineates how tastes and opportunities interact to determine an economy's (household's) paths of consumption and capital formation. However, its rigid structure (constancy of time preference) severely limits the conclusions and explanatory power of the corresponding models. This paper considers a class of utility functionals (in continuous time) which have the appealing feature that the rate of time preference depends systematically on an index of aggregate future consumption. The more flexible structure embodied in these functionals leads to important generalizations and modifications of standard conclusions. We highlight this added richness by examining five basic problems in dynamic economic analysis.