Title
A structural model of consumption : an application to China during the global financial crisis
Document Type
Journal article
Source Publication
The Journal of Socio-Economics
Publication Date
6-1-2012
Volume
41
Issue
3
First Page
284
Last Page
288
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Keywords
China, Consumption, Emotion, Financial crisis, Psychological states, Structural behavioral model
Abstract
In this paper, we develop a structural model of consumption by incorporating psychological constructs which constitute important antecedents of household consumption and provide crucial structural linkages to the mental accounting evaluation of saving or consumption. Our model is tested using structural equation modeling (SEM). The model is applied to China for measuring consumption expenditure under uncertainty emanating from the 2008 global financial crisis. An empirical test using 9784 new Chinese household survey data show that our structural model is a significant improvement over the existing behavioral life cycle model, as it is able to capture the psychological states affecting different groups of consumers such as employed workers and unemployed retirees. Our new structural model of consumption fits the data very well. The results have important implications for public policy assessment.
DOI
10.1016/j.socec.2012.01.003
Print ISSN
10535357
E-ISSN
18791239
Publisher Statement
Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc
Access to external full text or publisher's version may require subscription.
Full-text Version
Publisher’s Version
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Voon, J. P., & Voon, J. C. (2012). A structural model of consumption: An application to China during the global financial crisis. Journal of Socio-Economics, 41(3), 284-288. doi: 10.1016/j.socec.2012.01.003
