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...