We consider equilibrium option pricing in a simple two-period economy that is characterized by heterogeneity among agents. We demonstrate that an economy in which agents have constant yet heterogeneous degrees of relative risk aversion will price assets as though it has a single quot;pricing...

We derive general conditions under which forward and/or put unbiasedness occurs and show that restrictions on the probability distribution suffice for simultaneous unbiasedness of forwards and puts, even if consumers are assumed to be risk averse. We examine the optimal production and hedging...

Abstract In this paper, we study the dynamics of initial public offerings (IPOs) by examining the tradeoff between an entrepreneur’s private benefits, which are lost whenever the firm is publicly traded, versus the advantages from diversification. We characterize the timing dimension of the...

We propose a theory by which geographic variations in the transparency of the production process explain cross-regional differences in the scale of the state, in its hierarchical structure, and in property rights over land. The key linkage between geography and these institutions, we posit, is...