THE VANISHING SAVINGS MOTIVE

The overlapping generations model with life-time uncertainty is capable of generating unfamiliar, nonmonotonic adjustment phenomena that are attributed to a transitory savings motive. Slowly falling (increasing) wages create transitory savings (dis-)incentives which vanish in the long run when wage profiles become stationary again. Such a transitory savings component comes on top of a base component created by the permanently operating long-run savings incentives, and it easily gives rise to overshooting adjustment. Assets and consumption may even move first in a direction opposite to the implied long-run changes.