This paper asks whether tax cycles can represent the optimal policy in a model without any extrinsic uncertainty. I show, in an economy without capital and where labor is the only choicevariable (a Lucas-Stokey economy), that a large class of preferences exists, where cycles are optimal, as well...

We study the optimal path for capital and labor taxes in a dynamic economy with heterogeneous agents. In an otherwise standard model we concentrate on tax reforms that are both Pareto effcient and Pareto improving. Also, we assume the capital tax rate can never rise above its initial level and...

We introduce a new analytical approach to price American options. Using an explicit and intuitive proxy for the exercise rule, we derive tractable pricing formulas using a short-maturity asymptotic expansion. Depending on model parameters, this method can accurately price options with...

In this paper we construct arbitrage-free market models of stochastic volatility type for one stock, one bank account and a finite family of European call options with various strikes and maturities. We first introduce local implied volatilities and price level as market observables which...

This paper investigates the impact of heterogeneous beliefs of professional investors on the currency options market. Using a unique data set with detailed information on the foreign-exchange forecasts of about 50 market participants over more than ten years, we construct an empirical proxy for...