A Note on the Size Distribution of Consumption: More Double Pareto than Lognormal
12 Pages Posted: 21 Dec 2014 Last revised: 13 Dec 2017
Date Written: April 7, 2015
Abstract
The cross-sectional distribution of consumption is commonly approximated by the lognormal distribution. This note shows that consumption is better described by the \emph{double Pareto-lognormal distribution} (dPlN), which has a lognormal body with two Pareto tails and arises as the stationary distribution in recently proposed dynamic general equilibrium models. dPlN outperforms other parametric distributions and is often not rejected by goodness-of-fit tests. The analytical tractability and parsimony of dPlN may be convenient for various economic applications.
Keywords: Gibrat's law, multiplicative idiosyncratic risk, inequality, power law
JEL Classification: D31, E21, G12
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation