Debt-induced crises, including the subprime, are usually attributed exclusively to supply-side factors. We uncover an additional factor contributing to debt culture, namely social influences emanating from the perceived average income of peers. Using unique information from a representative...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study the asset allocation problem for a pension fund which maximizes the expected present value of its wealth augmented by the prospective mathematical reserve at the death time of a representative member. Design/methodology/approach - The paper...