Christopher D. Carroll

Professor of Economics 410–516–7602 (o)
Department of Economics 410–516–7600 (f)
Johns Hopkins University ccarroll@jhu.edu
Baltimore, MD 21218-2685
http://econ.jhu.edu/people/carroll
Education

BA in Economics, magna cum laude, Harvard College, 1986.

Honors: Early selection to Phi Beta Kappa, 1985.
John Harvard Scholarship 1982-1986.
Presidential Scholar, 1982.

Ph.D in Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1990.

Honors: National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship.
Fields: Macroeconomics, Public Finance
Current Appointments
2001-present Professor of Economics, Johns Hopkins University
2001-present National Bureau of Economic Research, Research Associate
2000-present Member, Conference on Research in Income and Wealth
2006-present Member, Center for Financial Studies, Goete University, Frankfurt
Previous Appointments
2002-Fall Visiting Professor, European University Institute, Florence
1999-Fall Visiting Fellow, Center on Social and Economic Dynamics, Brookings Institution
1997-1998 Senior Economist, President’s Council of Economic Advisers
1996-2001 Associate Professor of Economics, Johns Hopkins University.
1995-1996 Assistant Professor of Economics, Johns Hopkins University.
1995-2001 National Bureau of Economic Research, Faculty Research Fellow.
1990-1995 Staff Economist, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
1989-1990 Teaching Assistant, Department of Economics, MIT.
Professional Honors

1998 Paul A. Samuelson Certificate of Excellence for Research on Lifetime Financial Security

Recipient, Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship, 1997.

Marquis Who’s Who, 2004-

Who’s Who in Economics, 2004-

Author of Encyclopedia Brittanica’s Entry on ‘Consumption’ Professional Activities

June 2007: Deutsche Bank seminar series “On Science and Society” lecture on Economic Inequality and Justice (other speakers: Peter Diamond, Richard Blundell, Tony Atkinson, Costas Meghir, and Roland Benabou)

Mini-course in Consumption Theory at IMF Institute (April 2006; October 2004)

Hooker Distinguished Visiting Professor, McMaster University (October 2005)

Member of Scientific Review Panel for the Health and Retirement Survey, 2006

Congressional Budget Office External Review Panel, 2005

Co-organizer, NBER Monetary Economics Meeting, Spring 2000, Spring 2004

Visiting Fellow, The Brookings Institution, Washington, DC, Fall 1999

Visiting Scholar, Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe NM, Summer 1999, Summer 2000

Co-Chair of NBER Research Group on Consumption, 1995-present

Associate Editor, Journal of Business and Economic Statistics, Review of Economics and Statistics, Berkeley Electronic Journals in Macroeconomics

Member of Macroeconomics Advisory Panel to Panel Study on Income Dynamics, 1997-98.

Visiting Scholar, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, April/May 1997.

Referee: American Economic Review, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Econometrica, Journal of Political Economy, Journal of Economic Literature, Journal of Monetary Economics, Review of Economics and Statistics, Review of Economic Studies, Journal of Business and Economic Statistics, Journal of Macroeconomics, Journal of Development Economics, Journal of Public Finance, Economic Development and Cultural Change, and others.

Grant proposal reviews: National Science Foundation, UK Economic and Social Research Council (equivalent of NSF), Israeli Science Foundation, Sloan Foundation.

Teaching
Graduate Macroeconomic Theory (180.604)
Advanced Topics in Macroeconomics (180.606)
Undergraduate Public Finance (180.365)
Mathematical Methods for Economcis, Part II (180.316)
Graduate Macroeconomics Seminar
Graduate Lecture Notes Online
University and Departmental Service

Member, Undergraduate Ethics Board (1998-2001)

Member, Department of Economics Computer Committee (1996-)

Placement Director, 2002-

Dissertation Committees

Chair: Elif Arbatli, Burcu Duygan, Wendy Dunn, Michael Fratantoni, Johanna Francis, Christopher Geiregat, Joseph Gruber, Farhan Hameed, Jacques Miniane, Kevin Moore, Misuzu Otsuka, Matt Raskin, Jiri Slacalek, Martin Sommer, Delia Velculescu, Huiyan Lawrence Zhang, Xia Zhou

Second Advisor: Eugenio Cerutti, Selim Elekdag

Peripheral Advisor: Kenji Abe, Witold Czubala, Gergana Danilova-Trainor, Arash Sotoodehnia, Manu De Veirman

*

Published and Forthcoming Papers

   “Precautionary Saving and Precautionary Wealth.” Christopher D. Carroll and Miles S. Kimball. Palgrave Dictionary of Economics and Finance, 2nd Ed. 2007. Available at
http://econ.jhu.edu/people/ccarroll/PalgravePrecautionary.pdf

   “The Method of Endogenous Gridpoints for Solving Dynamic Stochastic Optimization Problems.” Christopher D. Carroll. Economics Letters pages 312–320 September 2006a. Paper and software available at
http://econ.jhu.edu/people/ccarroll/EndogenousArchive.zip or
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.econlet.2005.09.013

   “The Epidemiology of Macroeconomic Expectations.” Christopher D. Carroll. In Larry Blume and Steven Durlauf, editors, The Economy as an Evolving Complex System, III. Oxford University Press 2006b. Available at
http://econ.jhu.edu/people/ccarroll/epidemiologySFI.pdf

   “Unemployment Risk and Precautionary Wealth: Evidence from Households’ Balance Sheets.” Christopher D. Carroll, Karen E. Dynan, and Spencer S. Krane. Review of Economics and Statistics 85(3) August 2003. Available at
http://econ.jhu.edu/people/ccarroll/krynoll.pdf

   “Macroeconomic Expectations of Households and Professional Forecasters.” Christopher D. Carroll. Quarterly Journal of Economics 118(1):269–298 2003. Available at
http://econ.jhu.edu/people/ccarroll/epidemiologyQJE.pdf

   “Portfolios of the Rich.” Christopher D. Carroll. In Household Portfolios: Theory and Evidence. MIT Press Cambridge, MA 2002. Available at
http://econ.jhu.edu/people/ccarroll/richportfolios.pdf

   “A Theory of the Consumption Function, With and Without Liquidity Constraints.” Christopher D. Carroll. Journal of Economic Perspectives 15(3):23–46 Summer 2001a.
http://econ.jhu.edu/people/ccarroll/ATheoryv3JEP.pdf (as published)
http://econ.jhu.edu/people/ccarroll/ATheoryv3NBER.pdf (more rigorous),
http://econ.jhu.edu/people/ccarroll/ATheoryMath.zip (software archive)

   “Death to the Log-Linearized Consumption Euler Equation! (And Very Poor Health to the Second-Order Approximation).” Christopher D. Carroll. Advances in Macroeconomics 1(1):Article 6 2001b. Available at
http://econ.jhu.edu/people/ccarroll/death.pdf

   “Individual Learning About Consumption.” Todd M. Allen and Christopher D. Carroll. Macroeconomic Dynamics 5(4) 2001. Available at
http://econ.jhu.edu/people/ccarroll/IndivLearningAboutC.pdf

   “‘Risky Habits’ and the Marginal Propsensity to Consume Out of Permanent Income.” Christopher D. Carroll. International Economic Journal 14(4):1–41 2000a. Available at
http://econ.jhu.edu/people/ccarroll/riskyhabits.pdf

   “Solving Consumption Models with Multiplicative Habits.” Christopher D. Carroll. Economics Letters 68(1):67–77 2000b. Available at
http://econ.jhu.edu/people/ccarroll/HabitsEconLett.pdf

   “Saving and Growth with Habit Formation.” Christopher D. Carroll, Jody R. Overland, and David N. Weil. American Economic Review 90(3):341–355 June 2000. Available at
http://econ.jhu.edu/people/ccarroll/AERHabits.pdf

   “Requiem for the Representative Consumer? Aggregate Implications of Microeconomic Consumption Behavior.” Christopher D. Carroll. American Economic Review, Papers and Proceedings 90(2):110–115 May 2000c. Available at
http://econ.jhu.edu/people/ccarroll/RequiemFull.pdf

   “Why Do the Rich Save So Much?.” Christopher D. Carroll. In Joel B. Slemrod, editor, Does Atlas Shrug? The Economic Consequences of Taxing the Rich. Harvard University Press 2000d. Available at
http://econ.jhu.edu/people/ccarroll/Why.pdf

   “Does Cultural Origin Affect Saving Behavior? Evidence from Immigrants.” Christopher D. Carroll, Changyong Rhee, and Byungkun Rhee. Economic Development and Cultural Change 48(1):33–50 October 1999. Available at
http://econ.jhu.edu/people/ccarroll/censave.pdf

   “How Important Is Precautionary Saving?.” Christopher D. Carroll and Andrew A. Samwick. Review of Economics and Statistics 80(3):410–419 August 1998. Available at
http://econ.jhu.edu/people/ccarroll/howbig.pdf

   “Comparison Utility in a Growth Model.” Christopher D. Carroll, Jody R. Overland, and David N. Weil. Journal of Economic Growth 2(4):339–367 December 1997. Available at
http://econ.jhu.edu/people/ccarroll/compare.pdf

   “The Nature of Precautionary Wealth.” Christopher D. Carroll and Andrew A. Samwick. Journal of Monetary Economics 40(1):41–71 1997. Available at
http://econ.jhu.edu/people/ccarroll/nature.pdf

   “Unemployment Expectations, Jumping (S,s) Triggers, and Household Balance Sheets.” Christopher D. Carroll and Wendy E. Dunn. In Benjamin S. Bernanke and Julio J. Rotemberg, editors, NBER Macroeconomics Annual, 1997 pages 165–229. MIT Press Cambridge, MA 1997. Available at
http://econ.jhu.edu/people/ccarroll/macroann.pdf

   “Buffer Stock Saving and the Life Cycle/Permanent Income Hypothesis.” Christopher D. Carroll. Quarterly Journal of Economics CXII(1):1–56 1997. Available at
http://econ.jhu.edu/people/ccarroll/BSLCPIH.zip

   “On the Concavity of the Consumption Function.” Christopher D. Carroll and Miles S. Kimball. Econometrica 64(4):981–992 1996. Available at
http://econ.jhu.edu/people/ccarroll/concavity.pdf

   “Does Consumer Sentiment Forecast Household Spending? If So, Why?.” Christopher D. Carroll, Jeffrey C. Fuhrer, and David W. Wilcox. American Economic Review 84(5):1397–1408 1994a. Available at
http://econ.jhu.edu/people/ccarroll/SentAERCarrollFuhrerWilcox.pdf

   “Saving and Growth: A Reinterpretation.” Christopher D. Carroll and David N. Weil. Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy 40:133–192 June 1994. Available at
http://econ.jhu.edu/people/ccarroll/CarrollWeilSavingAndGrowth.pdf

   “Are There Cultural Effects on Saving? Some Cross-Sectional Evidence.” Christopher D. Carroll, Changyong Rhee, and Byungkun Rhee. The Quarterly Journal of Economics CIX(3):685–700 August 1994b. Available at
http://econ.jhu.edu/people/ccarroll/crr-culture-qje.pdf

   “How Does Future Income Affect Current Consumption?.” Christopher D. Carroll. The Quarterly Journal of Economics CIX(1):111–148 1994. Available at
http://econ.jhu.edu/people/ccarroll/howdoesfuture.pdf

   “The Decline in U.S. Saving.” Christopher D. Carroll. Forum for Applied Research and Public Policy 8(4) 1993

   “The Buffer-Stock Theory of Saving: Some Macroeconomic Evidence.” Christopher D. Carroll. Brookings Papers on Economic Activity 1992(2): 61–156 1992. Available at
http://econ.jhu.edu/people/ccarroll/BufferStockBPEA.pdf

   “Why is U.S. National Saving So Low?.” Lawrence H. Summers and Christopher D. Carroll. Brookings Papers on Economic Activity 1987(2):607–636 1987. Available at
http://econ.jhu.edu/people/ccarroll/NatSavSoLow.pdf

   “Why Have Private Saving Rates in the US and Canada Diverged?.” Christopher D. Carroll and Lawrence H. Summers. Journal of Monetary Economics 20(2):249–279 1987. Available at
http://econ.jhu.edu/people/ccarroll/papers/CarrollSummersJME.pdf

   “Consumption Growth Parallels Income Growth: Some New Evidence.” Christopher D. Carroll and Lawrence H. Summers. In B. Douglas Bernheim and John B. Shoven, editors, National Saving and Economic Performance. Chicago University Press Chicago 1991. Available at
http://econ.jhu.edu/people/ccarroll/papers/CParallelsY.pdf

*

Unpublished Papers

   “International Evidence on Sticky Consumption Growth.” Christopher D. Carroll, Martin Sommer, and Jiri Slacalek. Johns Hopkins University Working Paper Number 2008. Available at
http://econ.jhu.edu/people/ccarroll/papers/cssIntlStickyC
http://econ.jhu.edu/people/ccarroll/papers/cssIntlStickyC.pdf
http://econ.jhu.edu/people/ccarroll/papers/cssIntlStickyC.zip

   “How Large Is the Housing Wealth Effect? A New Approach.” Christopher D. Carroll, Misuzu Otsuka, and Jirka Slacalek. Status: Revise and Resubmit, Journal of Money, Credit, and Banking 2006. Original Version Available at
http://www.nber.org/papers/w12746

   “Theoretical Foundations of Buffer Stock Saving.” Christopher D. Carroll. NBER Working Paper No. 10867 (Status: Revise and Resubmit, Review of Economic Studies) November 2004a. Available at
http://econ.jhu.edu/people/ccarroll/BufferStockProofsNew.pdf

   “Liquidity Constraints and Precautionary Saving.” Christopher D. Carroll and Miles S. Kimball. Manuscript, Johns Hopkins University 2005. Available at
http://econ.jhu.edu/people/ccarroll/papers/liquidRevised.pdf

   “Housing Wealth and Consumption Expenditure.” Christopher D. Carroll. Paper Prepared for Academic Consultants Meeting of Federal Reserve Board, January 2004 2004b. Available at
http://econ.jhu.edu/people/ccarroll/papers/FedHouseWealthv2.pdf

   “Precautionary Saving and the Marginal Propensity to Consume Out of Permanent Income.” Christopher D. Carroll. NBER Working Paper Number W8233 April 2001. Available at
http://econ.jhu.edu/people/ccarroll/MPCPermBigNBER.pdf

*

Book Reviews and Published Discussions

   “Discussion of ‘The Rise in U.S. Household Indebtedness: Causes and Consequences’.” Christopher D. Carroll. In Christopher Kent, editor, Financial Stability and the Economic System (Proceedings of a Conference at the Reserve Bank of Australia, August 22, 2007) 2007. Available at
http://econ.jhu.edu/people/ccarroll/discussions/rba/dynankohn/DebtCausesText.pdf

   “Discussion of ‘Macroeconomic Derivatives: An Initial Analysis of Market-Based Macro Forecasts, Uncertainty, and Risk’ by Gurkaynak and Wolfers.” Christopher D. Carroll. In Jeffrey B. Frankel, editor, NBER International Seminar on Macroeconomics. MIT Press 2005. Available at
http://econ.jhu.edu/people/ccarroll/discuss/ISOM/gw/2005-06.zip

   The Economics of Saving and Growth: Theory, Evidence, and Implications for Policy. Klaus Schmidt-Hebbel and Luis Servén, editors. Cambridge University Press for the World Bank 2000. Book Review, Journal of Economic Literature

   “The Adequacy of Retirement Saving.” Eric Engen, William Gale, and Cori Uccello. Brookings Papers on Economic Activity 1999(2) 1999. Published Discussion

   OECD Global Capital Shortages: Real Threat or Pure Fiction? Book Review Journal of Economic Literature (1997)

   James M. Poterba International Comparisons of Household Saving . Book Review Journal of Economic Literature (1996) 34(4)

   James H. Gapinsky The Economics of Saving . Book Review Journal of Economic Literature (1994) 32(4)

*

Papers In Draft Stage Not Publicly Released

   “Sticky Expectations and Consumption Dynamics.” Christopher D. Carroll and Jiri Slacalek. Manuscript, Johns Hopkins University 2007

   “International Evidence on Sticky Consumption Growth.” Christopher D. Carroll, Martin Sommer, and Jiri Slacalek. Johns Hopkins University Working Paper Number 2008. Available at
http://econ.jhu.edu/people/ccarroll/papers/cssIntlStickyC
http://econ.jhu.edu/people/ccarroll/papers/cssIntlStickyC.pdf
http://econ.jhu.edu/people/ccarroll/papers/cssIntlStickyC.zip

*

Research in Progress

   “A Tractable Model of Precautionary Reserves, Net Foreign Assets, or Soverign Wealth Funds.” Christopher D. Carroll and Olivier Jeanne. Work In Progress ongoing

   “JEDC Project on Benchmark Solutions to Heterogeneous Agents Models.”

   “Entrepreneurial Investment, Consumption Smoothing, and Dividends.” With Louis J. Maccini

   “Sticky Consumption Growth and Housing Wealth Effects: Evidence from Australia.” Christopher D. Carroll, Crystal Ossolinski, and Jiri Slacalek. Work In Progress ongoing

   “Social Learning and Buffer Stock Saving.” Christopher Carroll. Ongoing research project 2008