Using home maintenance and repairs to smooth variable earnings
By: Joseph Gyourko and Joseph Tracy.
Contributors: Tracy, Joseph.; Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Series: Staff reports ;; no. 168; Staff reports (Federal Reserve Bank of New York : Online) ;; no. 168.
Publisher: Federal Reserve Bank of New York
Published: 2003
Place of publication: [New York, N.Y.]
Language: eng
Format: Electronic resource
Description: "Recent research indicates that the marked increase in U.S.  income inequality over the last twenty-five years has not been matched by a similar increase in consumption inequality.  This paper examines the role of saving/dissaving in a house as a vehicle for consumption smoothing.  Data from the American Housing Survey show that expenditures on home maintenance and repairs are economically significant, amounting to roughly $1,750 per household each year.  This figure is comparable to the labor literature estimates that put households' average annual transitory income variance at about $2,200.  Our calculations show a significant elasticity of maintenance and repair expenditures to transitory income shocks.  The elasticities are higher for less well educated households, which are more likely to be liquidity constrained than their better educated counterparts"--Federal Reserve Bank of New York web site.
Notes: Also available in print.
Includes bibliographical references.
Title from PDF file as viewed on 3/3/2005.
System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Mode of access: World Wide Web.