Události

Helene Onshuus, Ph.D.

Oslo Business School, Norway

Abstract: How does family composition affect consumption insurance? I study the consumption expenditure response to job loss in Norway from 1997 to 2011, and present two empirical facts: Among job losers without children, the consumption expenditure response does not differ between couples and singles. Second, single parent job losers reduce consumption expenditure much less than married or cohabiting job losers with children. Both findings run contrary to workhorse models of family insurance. I resolve the puzzle in a model of household consumption with pre-committed consumption and show that constrained households have higher marginal propensities to consume than unconstrained households.

Full Text: Pre-committed Consumption and Family Insurance after Job Loss