In this paper, we study the impact on the aggregate economy of changes in individual risk and insurance. To this end, we use the analytical framework developed in Heathcote, Storesletten and Violante (2008). Our main finding is that insurable risk increases TFP by improving the allocation of...

Not all meetings, however, necessarily lead to transactions. A match occurs if and only if the sale results in a positive surplus; otherwise, the potential buyer and seller continue to search. The continuation flow values that the prospective buyer and seller bring to the table as well as the...

We then explore whether a simple partial equilibrium Friedman-style permanent income model is consistent with the empirical facts. Our preliminary findings suggest that the PIH model provides a reasonably good approximation of the facts in the data, but only if transitory income shocks are the...