In a world where firms are oligopolists, is it possible to create a customs union that raises the welfare of member countries without hurting non-members countries? We give sufficient conditions for an affirmative answer.

This paper addresses the issue of optimal population with two concerns: avoiding both the absolute repugnant solution that amounts to giving to an infinite number an infinitesimal amount and the marginal repugnant solution in which equilibrium consumption decreases with income. To avoid these...

This paper qualifies Weil [1989]'s according to which dynamic efficiency may fail when agents are infinitely-lived, but "disconnected" from previous ones. It is shown that finite horizons matter in the following sense: if dynamic inefficiency results when the agents have infinite horizons, then...

Recently there has been a resurgence in the interest in the determinants of income inequality across countries. This paper adds to this literature by examining the role of one further explanatory variable: macroeconomic volatility. Using a cross-section developed and developing countries, we...

In this paper, the author reveals an equivalence property between Blanchard's perpetual youth model and the imperfect altruism issue. This essentially requires that the insurance system disappears, and the the bequest nonegativity constraint does not bind. The resulting equilibrium is unique and...