Explicit Consumption Functions with Borrowing Constraints: a Continuous Time Approach
Theoretical Economics
2025-11-06 v1
Abstract
There is no known explicit global closed form solution for the standard income fluctuation problem with a borrowing constraint and where wealth accumulates with a constant interest rate . Using a continuous time formulation, I derive an explicit global closed form solution for the case using the Lambert W function. For the case , I derive an explicit global closed form approximation that is valid for . I then use these to derive explicit expressions for the marginal propensity to consume out of assets and permanent income. I show that the cross-derivative between the two is strictly positive: the consumption consumption is supermodular.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2511.03452,
title = {Explicit Consumption Functions with Borrowing Constraints: a Continuous Time Approach},
author = {Jordan Roulleau-Pasdeloup},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2511.03452},
year = {2025}
}