Normatively, consumers should incorporate opportunity costs into every decision they make, yet behavioral research suggests that consumers consider them rarely, if at all. This research addresses when consumers consider opportunity costs, who considers opportunity costs, which opportunity costs...

We solve for the optimal portfolio allocation in a setting where both conditional correlation and the clustering of extreme events are considered. We demonstrate that there is a substantial welfare loss in disregarding tail dependence, even when dynamic conditional correlation has been accounted...

Many political scientists and economists have addressed the implications of the public sector's sheltered status on their unions' wage strategies vis-à-vis the government. Since the public sector is a monopoly provider of necessary and price inelastic services, conventional wisdom suggests that...

This paper develops a fast method of computing arbitrary order perturbation approximations to bond prices in DSGE models. The procedure is implemented to third order where it can shorten the approximation process by more than 100 times. In a consumption-based endowment model with habits, it is...

This paper analyzes the importance of discretion in bank lending decisions. We use a unique dataset of more than 1 million loan applications to customers of German savings banks and can observe accept and reject decisions as well as loan performance. We document that discretion is widespread and...

We present direct evidence of information spillovers through transactions prices in real estate markets. This behavior is not explained by common shocks to housing values. The effect is strongest in homogenous markets, where the information content of price is higher. The effect is weakest among...

We investigate the optimal investment problem when the interest rate is stochastic and the investor must pay proportional transaction costs when buying and selling the risky assets. We first consider a portfolio of bonds and transaction costs.We then add a stock to the portfolio, and analyze the...

We construct an overlapping generations model in which agents live through two periods; childhood and adulthood. Each agent makes choices only as an adult, based on her utility that depends on her own consumption and the human capital and environmental quality endowed to her offspring. Entering...

The recent financial crisis has shown that the stability of the investment banking industry plays a key role for the soundness of the financial system as a whole. Do high competition and/or cost inefficiencies increase investment banks' insolvency (and capital) risks? Or, conversely, do...

We propose a model in which firms use corporate governance as part of an optimal compensation scheme: better governance incentivizes managers to perform better and thus saves on the cost of providing pay for performance. However, when managerial talent is scarce, firms compete to attract better...