01908cas a2200265 a 4500 AALejournalIMF012136 230101c9999 xx r poo 0 0eng d 5.00 USD 9781475505696 1018-5941 BD-DhAAL BD-DhAAL Carroll, Christopher. Dissecting Saving Dynamics : Measuring Wealth, Precautionary, and Credit Effects / Christopher Carroll, Martin Sommer, Jiri Slacalek. Washington, D.C. : International Monetary Fund, 2012. 1 online resource (47 pages) IMF Working Papers <strong>Off-Campus Access:</strong> No User ID or Password Required <strong>On-Campus Access:</strong> No User ID or Password Required Electronic access restricted to authorized BRAC University faculty, staff and students We argue that the U.S. personal saving rate's long stability (from the 1960s through the early 1980s), subsequent steady decline (1980s - 2007), and recent substantial increase (2008 - 2011) can all be interpreted using a parsimonious 'buffer stock' model of optimal consumption in the presence of labor income uncertainty and credit constraints. Saving in the model is affected by the gap between 'target' and actual wealth, with the target wealth determined by credit conditions and uncertainty. An estimated structural version of the model suggests that increased credit availability accounts for most of the saving rate's long-term decline, while fluctuations in net wealth and uncertainty capture the bulk of the business-cycle variation. Mode of access: Internet Slacalek, Jiri. Sommer, Martin. IMF Working Papers; Working Paper ; No. 2012/219 Full text available on IMF http://elibrary.imf.org/view/journals/001/2012/219/001.2012.issue-219-en.xml IMF e-Library