Financial Concerns and the Marginal Propensity to Consume in COVID Times : Evidence from UK Survey Data /

We study how household concerns about their future financial situation may affect the marginal propensity to consume (MPC) during the COVID-19 pandemic. We use a representative survey of UK households to compute the MPC from a hypothetical transfer of pound 500. We find that household expectations p...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Albuquerque, Bruno
Other Authors: Green, Georgina
Format: Journal
Language:English
Published: Washington, D.C. : International Monetary Fund, 2022.
Series:IMF Working Papers; Working Paper ; No. 2022/047
Subjects:
Online Access:Full text available on IMF
Description
Summary:We study how household concerns about their future financial situation may affect the marginal propensity to consume (MPC) during the COVID-19 pandemic. We use a representative survey of UK households to compute the MPC from a hypothetical transfer of pound 500. We find that household expectations play a key role in determining differences in MPCs across households: households concerned about not being able to make ends meet have a 20% higher MPC than other households. Our findings suggest that policies targeted to vulnerable and financially distressed households may prove more effective in stimulating demand than providing stimulus payments to all households.
Item Description:<strong>Off-Campus Access:</strong> No User ID or Password Required
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Physical Description:1 online resource (52 pages)
Format:Mode of access: Internet
ISSN:1018-5941
Access:Electronic access restricted to authorized BRAC University faculty, staff and students