We propose an evolutionary framework for optimal portfolio growth theory in which investors subject to environmental pressures allocate their wealth between two assets. By considering both absolute wealth and relative wealth between investors, we show that different investor behaviors survive in...

Assuming that agents' preferences satisfy first-order stochastic dominance, we show how the Expected Utility paradigm can rationalize all optimal investment choices: the optimal investment strategy in any behavioral law-invariant (state-independent) setting corresponds to the optimum for an...

We examine the differential impact of portfolio debt, portfolio equity, and FDI inflows on 37 manufacturing industries, 99 countries, 1991-2007, extending Rajan-Zingales (1998). We utilize external finance dependence measures in a series of cross-sectional regressions of manufacturing...

In 1988 Dybvig introduced the payoff distribution pricing model (PDPM) as an alternative to the capital asset pricing model (CAPM). Under this new paradigm agents preferences depend on the probability distribution of the payoff and for the same distribution agents prefer the payoff that requires...

We develop a dynamic model to study the interaction between obfuscation and investor sophistication in retail financial markets. Taking into account different learning mechanisms within the investor population, we characterize the optimal timing of obfuscation for a profit-maximizing monopolist....

We analytically show that a common across rich/poor individuals Stone-Geary utility function with subsistence consumption in the context of a simple two-asset portfolio-choice model is capable of qualitatively and quantitatively explaining: (i) the higher saving rates of the rich, (ii) the...

This paper analyzes optimal hedging of a tradable risk (e.g. price risk or exchange rate risk) with forward contracts in the presence of untradable inflation risk. Utility is defined over real wealth. Optimal forward positions are derived relative to a given initial exposure in the tradable...

The most recent financial crisis highlights the importance of event risks and the ensuing market illiquidity and worsening investment opportunity set for optimal portfolio selection. However, the existing portfolio selection literature does not consider the joint impact of these risks. In this...

The financial crisis of 2008 cut deeply into the retirement savings of most retirees and those who are soon to retire. Add to this the clear trends of longer life expectancies and more active retirements and it becomes clear that portfolios must be structured to minimize the risk of asset...