-cycle framework how individuals respond to recessions. Our focus is on the sharp increase in savings rates that have been observed in … times. We show that the rise in the aggregate savings ratio is driven by increases in uncertainty, rather than tightening of …

households. Using data from the Bank of Italy's Survey on Household Income and Wealth covering the financial crisis, we are able … separately. We find that Italian households were able to smooth on average about 85% of shocks to household head's earnings in … both 2008-2010 and 2010-2012 spells. The most important smoothing mechanisms turn out to be self‐insurance through savings …

We examine the household consumption response to fluctuations in income and uncertainty, exploiting a large panel …, both household-specific income uncertainty and local labor market uncertainty depress consumption spending. We also find …

We show how to use panel data on household consumption to directly estimate households’ risk preferences. Specifically … preferences. Full insurance cannot be rejected. As the risk-sharing as-if-complete-markets theory might predict, estimated risk … preferences are unrelated to wealth or other characteristics. The heterogeneity matters for policy: Although the average household …

Our estimates indicate that 24% of net wealth is attributed to precautionary savings in Australia. Moreover, across the … related studies find that low-income households hold low levels of precautionary savings. Using a simple theoretical model, we …