IMF Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit
comments and to encourage debate. The views expressed in IMF Working Papers are those of the
author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF, its Executive Board, or IMF management.
IMF Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit
comments and to encourage debate. The views expressed in IMF Working Papers are those of the
author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF, its Executive Board, or IMF management.
This paper investigates if there is a different impact from changes in "new" and "old" economy stock valuations on private consumption. Estimating a reduced-form VAR for seven OECD countries for the 1990s, it is found that the impact from changes in old economy stock valuations on consumption is in general larger in the United States, Canada, and United Kingdom than in continental Europe. Furthermore, the impact from changes in new economy valuations to consumption is roughly the same in the United States, Canada, and United Kingdom and in continental Europe. Finally, the results suggest that in continental Europe the impact on consumption from changes in the valuation of new economy stocks is bigger than from the old economy stocks, whereas for the United States, Canada, and United Kingdom the impact is more or less the same between the two sectors.