We then consider the group of peers (or friends) as an object of choice. We characterize the peer group's optimal composition for each individual in the population. We show that, for each individual, there is a large equivalence class of optimal groups, potentially with maximal variance of...

Time inconsistency provides a motivation for linear Ramsey taxation in a Mirrleesian economy. Moreover, such a motivation overturns some classic results from the Ramsey taxation literature; specifically, indirect taxation may neither be useless (i.e., redundant) nor uniform.

TBA

In Bassetto with Sargent (2004) and Bassetto and Lepetyuk (2007), I developed a model that can be used to quantitatively assess the consequences of departures from Ricardian equivalence on the mix of public goods provided by the government. Those papers assume that mobility is exogenous and that...

We estimate an empirical model of consumption disasters using a new panel data set on consumption and output for over 20 countries and more than 100 years. The model allows for permanent and transitory effects of disasters, nesting both unit root and trend stationary consumption growth. We...

In this paper, we develop a tractable model of the labor market featuring on-the-job search and aggregate fluctuations.

To explore the quantitative implications that AIDS has for the development path of the Sub- Saharan African economies, I extend a standard theory of economic development that reproduces the process of industrialization, Hansen and Prescott (2002), with a population model that relates the age...

Financial crises are costly. In the recent crisis in Argentina, for example, from the onset of sovereign debt repayment difficulties at the end of 2000 until the beginning of 2002, real GDP dropped by almost 20%. A simple aggregate growth accounting exercise suggests that a large part of this...

The paper presents a general equilibrium model with search on the job. Workers differ in terms of skill levels and firms differ in terms of productivity. Depending on the production function characteristics, sorting in matching may occur. The paper estimates the model on Danish match data and...