Stochastic models with economy-wide shocks imply that the welfare costs of aggregate volatility are negligible and contribute little to explaining the equity premium puzzle. Motivated by this failure, this paper introduces idiosyncratic shocks. Drawing on empirical evidence suggesting that the...

Our objective is to investigate how alternative assumptions about preferences affect the process of economic growth. To do this, we analyze a neoclassical growth model under three alternative preference specifications: (i) time separable, (ii) catching up with the Joneses, and (iii) habit...

This paper tries to distinguish between those features of macroeconomic dynamics which will stand the test of time and which will not. It reviews the rational expectations and the representative agent models. It concludes that more attention should be paid to nonlinear dynamics and uncertainty...

A dynamic dependent-economy model is developed to investigate the role of the real exchange rate in determining the effects of foreign aid. If capital is perfectly mobile between sectors, untied aid has no longrun impact on the real exchange rate. A decline in the traded sector occurs because...

This paper analyzes the impact of public investment on the dynamics of private capital formation in an intertemporal optimizing market-clearing framework. The key feature characterizing the analysis is that the public good is treated as a durable capital good, subject to congestion. We show how...