Understanding Consumption

What Interviews with Retired Households Can Reveal about Budgetary Decisions

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2643230
AutoresE Chattoe-Brown (0000-0001-8232-6896, autor de correspondencia), Edmund Chattoe, Nigel Gilbert (0000-0002-5937-2410)
Año2001
Volumen6
Número3
Páginas1-12
Fecha de publicación2001-11-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaSociological Research Online (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1360-7804 • E-ISSN: 1360-7804
EditorialSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.5153/sro.627
OpenAlexW1515765354
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas6
Referencias citadas26

This paper uses interview data from retired households to inform a discussion about economic models of consumption. It is divided into two parts. In the first part, the economic models are described. The paper then discusses several different types of reasons for finding them unhelpful in explaining consumption. The second part of the paper considers the role of 'middle range' theories in developing plausible models of household behaviour. Phenomena which the interviews suggest are important in explaining consumption, such as time allocation, the labour supply decision, the ubiquitous durability of goods and the structure of the household, are not typically supported by middle range theory in current models. Without the constraints of such theory, it is very hard to distinguish models providing genuine explanation from those that merely fit the data. The latter part of the paper also discusses aspects of a new middle range theory of consumption suggested by the interviews

Economics · Labour supply · Microeconomics · Positive economics · Public economics · Social science · Sociology · Financial Literacy, Pension, Retirement Analysis · Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics · Housing Market and Economics