Existence and stability of overconsumption equilibria
Journal article: Growth models with endogenous mortality assume generally that life expectancy is increasing with output per capita and, thus, with individual consumption, whatever its level is. However, empirical evidence supports a U-shaped relationship between consumption and mortality, implying that the monotonicity of that relation is local but not global. This paper develops a two-period OLG model where life expectancy is a non-monotone function of consumption, and where agents form myopic anticipations about life expectancy. The existence, uniqueness and stability of steady-state equilibria are studied. It is shown that overconsumption equilibria — i.e. equilibria at which consumption exceeds the level maximizing life expectancy — exist in highly productive economies with a low impatience. We identify also conditions under which there exist long-run cycles in output and longevity around overconsumption equilibria.
Author(s)
Grégory Ponthière
Journal
- Economic Modelling
Date of publication
- 2011
Keywords JEL
Keywords
- Longevity
- Mortality
- Growth
- Overconsumption
- OLG model
Pages
- 74-90
URL of the HAL notice
Version
- 1
Volume
- 28