Habits and Endogenous Investment Fluctuations

Abstract

This paper envisages whether an external habit effect can produce indeterminate equilibrium paths thereby generating endogenous investment fluctuations. In an otherwise standard optimal growth model with leisure, we find that an external habit effect can cause endogenous investment fluctuations if there is a proper habit effect together with a proper intertemporal elasticity of substitution. In a calibrated version of the model, we find that endogenous investment fluctuations are plausible when the habit effect is negative with the "catching up with the Joneses"effect.