A 2-parameter class of ordinal utility functions over a pair of goods is discussed with respect to general traits of preferences for luxury. The class contains Cobb-Douglas functions as no-luxury limit; its analytical tractability is probed by simple closed form solutions for Marshallian demand...

Maps of completely proper rationality are introduced so as to parametrize departure from CARA decisionmaking in terms of level effects, and deepen the link between risk aversion, prudence and higher order concepts in connection with the objective approach to riskiness set forth by Aumann and...

This work makes a joint analysis of prevention and saving decisions. First we determine the optimal levels of the two variables and we analyze substitution between them. Second we provide some comparative statics results in order to determine the effects on optimal saving and prevention of...

This paper proposes a new interpretation for the precautionary saving motive: when future income is uncertain, agents increase saving in order to cause a reduction in the disutility due to uncertainty. Furthermore the paper shows that the usual necessary and sufficient condition for...

We examine optimal saving in the presence of two small risks: income risk and a background risk. First, we compute the necessary and sufficient condition for a positive precautionary saving, showing that it depends on two terms capturing respectively the direct effect of income risk and the...

This paper shows how, under a few standard assumptions on the utility function, the monotonicity of absolute risk aversion (ARA) and of absolute prudence (AP) are connected. We get some general Propositions on the behaviour of the two functions regarding the positions and the number of their...

This paper investigates empirically the role of real assets in credit rationing. The analysis is based on the idea that asset tangibility is inversely related to the probability that a firm will be credit constrained. Indeed, when loans are collateralized, the amount borrowed is determined by...

In order to cope with the stylized facts of financial time series, many models have been proposed inside the GARCH family (e.g. EGARCH, GJR-GARCH, QGARCH, FIGARCH, LSTGARCH) and the stochastic volatility models (e.g. SV). Generally, all these models tend to produce very similar results as...

This paper investigates credit supply endogeneity in the Italian environment from 1999 to 2009. The study aims to shed more light on the relationship between securitization and the Italian monetary transmission mechanism during the two most recent financial crashes: the dot-com bubble burst...