Consumption and prices

This paper was prepared for inclusion in a symposium on saving and consumption in the Journal of Economic Perspectives.

Since the completion of the Single Market in 1992 it has become easier for people in the UK to take advantage of lower priced goods across the border. Alcohol is one good where there has been particular concern about the level of cross-border shopping because of differences in tax rates between the UK and France. If the Chancellor wants to reduce the amount of cross-border shopping by cutting duty, the important policy question is whether overall these two effects would have a positive or negative effect on revenue.

In the 1999 Pre-Budget Report the Chancellor announced measuers to encourage charitable giving through tax relief on donations. These are explained in this Briefing Note.

This paper addresses the issue of whether tax revenue from alcohol lost through cross-border shopping could be recouped by cutting excise duties.

In this paper we model the evolution ofincome risk and consumption growth

This report considers sources of bias in cost-of-living and price indices, with particular reference to the UK's retail price index. The sources of bias discussed are caused by the introduction of new goods, quality change in existing goods and commodity substitution by consumers. New methods of quantifying these biases and correcting them are presented with empirical applications.

This paper uses revealed preference restrictions and nonparametric statistical methods to bound a quality-constant price series for a good that

In this article we argue that the life-cycle model that allows demographics to affect household preferences and relaxes the assumption of certainty equivalence can generate hump-shaped consumption profiles over age that are very similar to those observed in household-level data sources.

This paper presents an hedonic model of the price of a sample of new cars available in the UK during the period 1986 to 1995.

Recent studies have found a negative relationship between voluntary labour market activity and the opportunity cost of time, measured by the individual's net wage.

This paper places the debate over using consumption or income in studies of inequality growth in a formal intertemporal setting. It highlights the importance of permanent and transitory income uncertainty in the evaluation of growth in consumption inequality.