Since Brown (1952), habit formation models of consumption have assumed that memory loss is a univariate process. This paper dispenses with this assumption to consider habit modification in consumption. A model is proposed where household credit depletes the habit stock and motivates consumers...

This paper traces the evolution of the habit formation literature in economics. Its long history displays two main features: (i) the literature has grown immensely during the 20th century, and (ii) its growth has not been smooth. This paper argues that factors such as methodology, theoritical...

In the light of repeated rejections of the Hall (1978) version of life-cycle permanent income hypothesis and other empirical puzzles, the habit formation hypothesis has increased in popularity since the 1980s. However, existing formulations of habit persistence do not always perform well...

This paper proposes an asymmetric model within which consumer credit facilitates both consumption smoothing and rational habit modification. The model provides a better description of aggregate time series consumption data than competeting models. In particular, the model can account for the...

Since Brown (1952), standard habit formation models of consumption have exclusively focused on non-durables and services expenditure, and have assumed that the depreciation of the habit stock is a linear, univariate process. This paper builds on Ermini (1997) to dispense with these two...

Since Brown (1952), habit formation models of consumption have assumed that utility is additively separable in durables and non-durables, and memory loss is a unidimensional process. This thesis dispenses with these assumptions to extend the theory of habit formation and introduce habit...

The link between skill acquisition and earnings is one of the cornerstones of labour economics. The conventional view is that, all else being equal, workers with relatively higher stocks of embedded skills will receive a relatively higher return when supplying labour. The link between skills and...

Heterogeneous panel causality tests are employed to consider the relationship between urbanization change and economic growth. Urbanization causes economic growth in high-income countries, but noncausality could not be rejected for both middle-income and Latin American countries. A...

This paper tests for a sulfur Kuznets curve by examining the sulfur emissions per capita-GDP per capita relationship individually, for 25 OECD countries over 1950-2005 using a reduced-form, linear model that allows for multiple endogenously determined breaks. This approach addresses several...

Heterogeneous panel causality tests are employed to consider the relationship between urbanization change and economic growth (i.e., differenced logged GDP per capita). Income- and geography-based panels demonstrated substantial variation in that relationship. Urbanization caused economic growth...