How Small is Small? Non-linearities in Heterogeneous Agent Models
In plausibly calibrated heterogeneous-agent models, marginal propensities to consume (MPCs) are highly non-linear in wealth, falling sharply away from borrowing constraints. As a result, the aggregate consumption response to a fiscal transfer is strongly concave in its size: larger transfers shift households out of high-MPC regions and thereby dampen the consumption response. Across partial- and general-equilibrium settings, linear methods substantially overstate the effects of fiscal stimulus at empirically relevant sizes. Local methods are not reliable for studying shocks and policies where a failure of Ricardian equivalence is important.
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Copy CitationJavier Bianchi and Greg Kaplan, "How Small is Small? Non-linearities in Heterogeneous Agent Models," NBER Working Paper 35311 (2026), https://doi.org/10.3386/w35311.Download Citation
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