This paper analyzes the dependence of average consumption on the saving rate in a one-sector neoclassical Solow growth model with production shocks and stochastic rates of population growth and depreciation where arbitrary ergodic processes are considered. We show that the long-run behavior of the stochastic capital intensity, and hence average consumption along any sample path, is uniquely determined by a random fixed point that depends continuously on the saving rate. This result enables us to prove the existence of a golden-rule saving rate that maximizes average consumption per capita. We also show that the golden-rule path is dynamically efficient. The results are illustrated numerically for Cobb–Douglas and CES production functions.
