A General Equilibrium Model in Which Consumption Takes Time

Abstract

This chapter examines a general equilibrium competitive economy with many heterogeneous agents. The key feature of the model is that consumption itself takes time so that a typical household is subject to a financial constraint as well as a time constraint. Using the dividend approach proposed by Le-Van and Nguyen (J Math Econ 43:135-152, 2007), it is shown that the economy possesses at least one autarkic Walrasian equilibrium. Sufficient conditions for the uniqueness of the autarkic equilibrium are then derived. Finally, a specific example is provided to illustrate the working of the model, including the derivation of the equilibrium labour allocation and some comparative static results.