An International Perspective on Asymmetries in Consumers' Expenditure

Data on real consumers' expenditure for seven major OECD economies(Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the UK and the US) are subjectedto Sichel's (1993) tests of business cycle asymmetry. The results derivedshow that the high cross-country correlations in consumers' expenditure maskvery different underlying cyclical properties. Interestingly, while Franceand Germany fail to exhibit any type of asymmetric adjustment, asymmetry ofsome form and to some degree is present for all of the other economiesconsidered. The implications of these findings are discussed.