This paper analyses the optimal refinancing decision of an agent whose only asset in the portfolio is the house where she lives in the context of a life-cycle model. The mortgage is modelled as an adjustable rate contract covering the remaining life of te house owner. Thus, refinancing concerns...

This paper uses baseline data from the randomized experiment of the conditional cash transfer program - Red de Proteccion Social, Nicaragua to conduct an ex ante evaluation and compares results to those of the experimental evaluation. Reduced form estimation of a behavioural model using a health...

This paper uses baseline data from the randomized experiment of the conditional cash transfer program - Red de Proteccion Social, Nicaragua to conduct an ex ante evaluation and compares results to those of the experimental evaluation. Reduced form estimation of a behavioural model using a health...

We estimate a health investment equation, derived from a health capital model that is an extension of the well-known Grossman model. Of particular interest is whether the health production function has constant returns to scale, as in the standard Grossman model, or decreasing returns to scale,...

There is a well-established debate between Heckman sample selection and two-part models in health econometrics, particularly when no obvious exclusion restrictions are available. Most of this debate has focussed on the application of these models to health care expenditure. This paper revisits...

We analyse the implications of multiple Nash equilibria in consumption patterns. Multiple equilibrium theory has been extensively used in macroeconomics to explain the convergence of the system to a low inefficient equilibrium. Its microfoundations appear very abstract and stylised. It has been...

We consider the interaction between the risk of unemployment, random house prices, consumption and savings. A critical decision is that of refinancing house purchase, up to 100% mortgages are possible. There is also a fixed transaction cost of refinancing. In a CARA framework we derive the value...

The interaction between housing wealth, the financial portfolio of the consumer and consumption is a live issue. Life cycle models with closed form solutions under uncertainty are hard to find. In this paper we find analytical solutions for the effects of house price uncertainty and employment...

We consider a market model in which all commodities are inherently indivisible and thus are traded in integer quantities. We ask whether a finite set of price-quantity observations satisfying the Generalized Axiom of Revealed Preference (GARP) is consistent with utility maximization. Although...

Generally, implementation of Pigovian taxes to correct for market failure requires an enormous set of information. For each commodity-person combination a different tax is required to correct the resulting market inefficiency. In this paper, we analyse interdependent preferences and inefficiency...