Intertemporal Substitution in Consumption

One of the important determinants of the response of saving and consumption to the real interest rate is the ela sticity of intertemporal substitution. That elasticity can be measure d by the response of the rate of change of consumption to changes in the expected real interest rate. A detailed study of data for the twe ntieth-century United States shows no strong evidence that the elasti city of intertemporal substitution is positive. Earlier findings of s ubstantially positive elasticities are reversed when appropriate esti mation methods are used. Copyright 1988 by University of Chicago Press.