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May 11, 2012

DIW Applied Micro Seminar

Aggregation without the aggravation? Nonparametric analysis of the representative consumer

Date

May 11, 2012
13:15-14:45

Location

Eleanor-Dulles-Raum
DIW Berlin im Quartier 110
Room 5.2.010
Mohrenstraße 58
10117 Berlin

Speakers

Frederic Vermeulen, Tilburg University
Abstract:
In the tradition of Afriat (1967), Diewert (1973) and Varian (1982), we provide a revealed preference characterisation of the representative consumer. Our results are simple and complement those of Gorman (1953, 1961), Samuelson (1956) and others. They can also be applied to data very readily and without the need for auxilliary parametric or statistical assumptions. We investigate the application of our characterisation by means of a balanced microdata panel survey. Our findings provide robust evidence against the existence of a representative consumer for our data.

Contact

Peter Haan
Peter Haan

Head of Department in the Public Economics Department

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