Journal of Political Economy 99:5 (October 1991) 957-976. Are consumers effectively insured against idiosyncratic shocks, either by formal institutions such as charities, private insurance, government programs, or by informal mechanisms such as gifts and “loans” from relatives, friends and neighbors? I test for insurance using regressions of consumption growth on exogenous variables. Thinking through the specification of the regressions is not easy. I reject full insurance for long illness and involuntary job loss, but not for spells of unemployment, loss of work due to a strike and an involuntary move.

Read More >