This paper investigates the role of consumer heterogeneity in explaining asset returns. Using a Taylor series expansion of the individual's marginal utility of consumption around the conditional expectation of consumption, we derive an approximate equilibrium model for expected returns. In this...

In this paper we use a test developed by Phillips et al. (2011) to identify a bubble in the gold market. We find that the price of gold followed an explosive price process between 2002 and 2012 interrupted only briefly by the subprime crisis in 2008. We also provide a theoretical foundation for...

Inspired by the theoretically oriented dynamic analysis of moving average rules in Chiarella, He and Hommes (CHH) (2006a) model, this paper conducts a dynamic analysis of a microstructure model of continuous double auctions in which the probability of heterogeneous agents to trade is determined...

This paper considers a discrete-time model of a financial market with one risky asset and one risk-free asset, where the asset price and wealth dynamics are determined by the interaction of two groups of agents, fundamentalits and chartists. In each period each group allocates its wealth between...

This paper studies the effects of a flat-tax reform in a dynamic, general equilibrium model with heterogeneous agents and occupational choice. Each agent has a choice to be a worker or to establish a firm and become an entrepreneur with a limited ability to borrow in financial markets. Because...

The U.S. tax policy on health insurance favors only those offered group insurance through their employers, and is highly regressive since the subsidy takes the form of deductions from the progressive income tax system. The paper investigates alternatives to the current policy. We find that a...

Financing retirement benefits is probably the most significant fiscal challenge that governments in industrial economies will be facing in the next few decades. Social security reform has therefore become an important public policy issue for many countries and various reform proposals have been...

The real business cycle (RBC) model pioneered by Kydland and Prescott (1982) was a fundamental step to understand business cycles. This literature, in general, claims that aggregate technology shocks are the main ingredient to explain these fluctuations. However, in order to match various...

Modern day equity markets are populated by investors pursuing a number of investment styles. In this paper we simulate the behaviour of investors pursuing various types of these styles in order to examine whether their interaction is a major contributing factor to inefficiencies within markets...