We investigate conditions for endogenous incompleteness and completeness in continuous-time financial markets driven by diffusion processes with multiple consumption goods and heterogeneous agents. We show that for a class of utility functions the financial market is endogenously incomplete. A...

Correlations of equity securities have varied substantially over time and remain a source of continuing policy debate. This paper studies stock market correlations in an equilibrium model with heterogeneous risk aversion. In the model, preference heterogeneity causes countercyclical variations...

Correlations of equity securities have varied substantially over time and remain a source of continuing policy debate. This paper studies stock market correlations in an equilibrium model with heterogeneous risk aversion. In the model, preference heterogeneity causes countercyclical variations...

the long run mean and/or the persistence of expected inflation.

We analyze the performance of irrational investors, who mistake expected returns of assets in a multi-asset economy. Mistakes by probabilistically unsophisticated investors that a priori seem small lead to severe underperformance compared with rational investors, under general conditions. Our...

We study portfolio choice with multiple stocks and capital gain taxation assuming that capital losses can only offset current or future realized capital gains. We show through backtesting, using empirical distributions, that optimal equity holdings over an extended period are significantly lower...

Using corporate property insurance contracts of small and medium-sized private firms, I document negative relations between various ownership measures --- CEO salary, ownership concentration and aggregate female ownership --- and insurance use as well as a positive relation between the number of...

Using a database of more than 180,000 private companies from 2000 to 2009, we find that the benefits of holding more cash vary substantially with a firm’s size and the conditions it faces. Cash holdings matter most for small firms: when there are negative shocks to industry or macroeconomic...

We investigate whether corporate finance incentives affect the extent of corporate hedging with property insurance. Using a database that contains detailed insurance information, we document a positive relation between the expected costs of distress and property insurance coverage. We also show...

In this article we construct a model in which agents exhibit preference for ownership with respect to a durable (house). Ownership is modeled as a continuous function of debt service normalized by the price of the house. We study the utility optimization problem of an investor not endowed with...