This thesis consists of three essays on dynamic household decisions over the life cycle and the estimation of parameters for the analysis. The topics include the estimation of income processes and progressive tax and transfer schedules in Chapter I, the savings and amortisation behaviour of...

What time periods should we use in tax and other fiscal policy to evaluate people’s circumstances, and thus to determine either how they are being treated, or how they ought to be? This question is both fundamental and pervasive.Standard economic reasoning offers grounds for entirely basing...

Using a life-cycle model and a representative sample of households, we analyze the extent to which using home equity leads to (heterogeneity in) welfare gains over the life cycle. The most policy-feasible option to borrow against 50% of home equity over the life cycle leads to median (average)...

We empirically analyze the heterogeneous welfare effects of unemployment insurance and social assistance. We estimate a structural life-cycle model of singles' and married couples' labor supply and savings decisions. The model includes heterogeneity by age, education, wealth, sex and household...

Households face earnings risk which is non-normal and varies by age and over the income distribution. We show that allowing for these rich features of earnings dynamics, in the context of a structurally estimated life-cycle portfolio choice model, helps to rationalize the limited participation...

Using a quantitative life cycle model, we study the impact of access to fractional homeownership on individuals' optimal consumption, savings, and housing decisions. Fractional homeownership means that two parties - an individual and an institutional investor - share full ownership of a...

We propose a life-cycle model, where individuals facing uninsured labor income risks choose whether to participate in the stock market and make decisions on home ownership, in an environment with a social safety net and the retirement savings system. The model is motivated by the empirical...

This paper analyzes how Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) can be used in conjunction with other savings vehicles to improve retirement preparedness. We build a life-cycle model that incorporates an HSA, a tax-advantaged defined contribution (DC) account, and a liquid taxable account. Individuals...

Since the beginning of the 2000s, both the demographic structure and pension system in China has experienced a dramatic change, which profoundly impacts the housing market. Since the land profit occupies a large ratio of the government revenue, China’s housing market interacts with the...