GMM Estimation of a Money-in-The-Utility-Function Model : The Implications of Functional Forms

This paper studies consumer demand for real balances by allowing money to enter directly into an aggregate utility function as an asset that provides liquidity services. The essay extends existing literature by investigating a money-in-the-utility-function model under a variety of specifications of the representative agent's objective function. The empirical analysis employs the Generalized-Method-of-Moments technique to estimate the coefficients of the Euler equations derived from the structural model. The parameter estimates are compared across specifications of the utility function and across data sets. The results provide some support for the view that the liquidity services provided by real balances contribute to utility