This paper proposes a new wealth-dependent utility function for the inter-temporal consumption and portfolio problem, in which the subsistance (bliss) con-sumption level is a function of wealth. Ratchet effects obtain when higher wealth in-creases the subsistance consumption level; blas´...

The goal of this paper is to assess, for the first time, the empirical impact of "Kaynes' beauty contest", or "higher order belief", on asset price volatility. The paper shows that heterogeneous expectations induce higher order beliefs and that heterogeneous expectation asset pricing models...

We examine the underpricing and long-term performance of a broad set ofSwiss IPOs from 1983 to 2000. The average market adjusted initial return is34.97%. Our results support the ex ante uncertainty hypothesis, the signal-ling hypothesis and, to some extent, the market cyclicality hypothesis...

This paper analyzes the effects that uncertainty about economic fundamentalshas on aggregate trading volume. First, the trading volume of an investor facinga standard consumption portfolio choice problem is derived. It is found that if theparameters describing the investment opportunity set...

Markowitz and Sharpe won the Nobel Prize in Economics more than a decade ago for the development of Mean-Variance analysis and the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM). In the year 2002, Kahneman won the Nobel Prize in Economics for the development of Prospect Theory. Can these two apparently...

We study the equilibrium pricing sects of a sentiment for pessimism. Pessimism has the form of Knightian model uncertainty aversion for a neighborhood of indistinguishable model specifications that are constrained in their relative entropy from a given reft ence model. We fully characterise the...

We study in a general perspective the partial equilibrium incentives and the general equilibrium asset pricing implications of Value-at-Risk (VaR) regulation in continuous time economies with intermediate consumption, stochastic opportunity set, and heterogenous attitudes to risk. Our findings...

We present a geometric approach to discrete time multiperiod mean variance portfolio opti-mization that largely simplifies the mathematical analysis and the economic interpretation of such model settings. We show that multiperiod mean variance optimal policies can be decom-posed in an orthogonal...

o obtain the maximum benefits from diversification, financial theory suggests that investors should invest internationally because of the larger potential for risk reduction. The question that we raise in this paper is how to select the optimal portfolio of countries? This article synthesizes...