Many asset pricing puzzles can be explained when habit formation is added to standard preferences. We show that utility functions with a habit then gives rise to a puzzle of consumption volatility in place of the asset pricing puzzles when agents can choose consumption and labor optimally in...

Do fluctuations of the labor wedge, defined as the gap between the firm's marginal product of labor (MPN) and the household's marginal rate of substitution (MRS), reflect fluctuations of the gap between the MPN and the real wage or fluctuations of the gap between the real wage and the MRS? For...

This paper analyzes and computes the equilibria of economies with large numbers of heterogeneous agents who have different asset trading technologies, preferences and beliefs. We illustrate the value of our method by using it to evaluate the implications of these heterogeneities through several...

We extend the basic RBC model to allow for biased technical changes. One broad definition of biased technical changes is changes that directly affect factor elasticities. Given the link between changes in factor elasticities and factor shares, observed fluctuations in US labor's share are...

We show that the aggregate Frisch elasticity of labor supply can greatly exceed the corresponding individual-level parameter, and we illustrate the "anatomy" of the former in terms of intensive and extensive margins. The methodology consists of using micro data from the PSID to construct a panel...

We study the role of brand capital -- a primary form of intangible capital -- for firm valuation and risk in the cross section of publicly traded firms. Using a empirical measure of brand capital stock constructed from advertising expenditures accounting data, we show that: (i) firms with low...

This paper studies the effects of import-price shocks on measured output and productivity in a standard small open economy model and quantifies such effects in the case of the Korean crisis of 1997-98. I argue that it is the price of imported goods relative to the price of domestic goods but not...

While a large literature studies the causes of financial crises, little is known about the mechanisms by which crises lead to output drops. We perform an exploratory analysis of output drops by applying the Business Cycle Accounting (BCA) methodology developed by Chari et al. (2007) to a sample...

Open economy extensions of real business cycle models, even if generally successful, have met some difficulties replicating a few important stylized facts. In particular these models tend to predict excessive consumption smoothing and consumption correlation across countries. The observed...

We study how an occasionally binding capacity constraint affects the properties of business cycles. A real business cycle model is constructed where production takes place at individual plants and the number of plants operated varies over the cycle. The capacity constraint binds in states where...