James Duesenberry

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James Stemble Duesenberry (born July 18, 1918 in West Virginia - † October 5, 2009 ) was an American economist.

Life

Duesenberry studied at the University of Michigan , where he received his bachelor's degree in 1939 and his master's degree in 1941 , and his Ph.D. in 1948. attained. From 1941 to 1946 he did research at the Social Science Research Council. Since 1946 he taught at Harvard University , from 1957 as a full professor. In 1989 he retired.

Relative income hypothesis

The hypothesis of relative income published by Duesenberry in 1949 states that consumption does not depend solely on current income , but rather on the relative position in the social income pyramid. The upper limit is determined by the highest past income ( ), which reflects the standard of living achieved in the past.

According to Duesenberry, consumers constantly adapt their consumer behavior and the associated standard of living to a maximum income they have reached. When income falls, households do not react with an immediate reduction in their consumption expenditure ( pawl effect or ratchet effect ), because they have got used to a certain standard of living ( habit persistence ).

Formally, the hypothesis can be presented as follows:

Works

  • Income-Consumption Relations and their Implications . In: L. Metzler (Ed.): Income, Employment and Public Policy . WW Norton, New York 1948, pp. 54-81
  • Income, Saving and the Theory of Consumer Behavior . Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts 1949.
  • Business Cycles and Economic Growth . McGraw-Hill, New York 1958.
  • Money and Credit. Impact and control . Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey 1964.
  • with T. Mayer and RZ Aliber: Money, Banking and the Economy . WW Norton, New York 1981

literature

  • Michel Beaud and Gilles Dostaler: Economic thought since Keynes. A History and Dictionary of Major Economists . Edward Elgar, Aldershot [et al. a.] 1995, pp. 223f., ISBN 1-85278-667-1

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Duesenberry, James
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Duesenberry, James Stemble (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American economist
DATE OF BIRTH 18 July 1918
PLACE OF BIRTH West Virginia
DATE OF DEATH October 5, 2009