We provide a systematic analysis of the properties of individual returns to wealth using twenty years of population data from Norway's administrative tax records. We document a number of novel results. First, in a given cross-section, individuals earn markedly different returns on their assets,...

In this paper, we propose a model of endogenous partial insurance and we investigate its implications for macroeconomic outcomes, such as wealth inequality, asset accumulation, interest rate, and consumption smoothing. To this end, we include participation costs to state-contingent asset markets...

I show that countercyclical earnings dynamics can have quantitatively important effects on saving and portfolio choice decisions over the life cycle. During expansions (recessions) when expected future earnings growth is high (low), households save less (more) and also invest a higher (lower)...

This paper quantifies the extent of heterogeneity in consumption responses to changes in real interest rates and house prices in the four largest economies in the euro area: France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. We first calibrate a life-cycle incomplete-markets model with a liquid financial asset...

This paper analyzes the effects of the Great Recession on different generations. While older generations suffered the largest decline in wealth due to the collapse in asset prices, younger generations suffered the largest decline in labor income. Potentially, some households may have benefited...

Home ownership is widely stimulated by policy yet its effects are poorly understood. Exploiting privatization decisions of municipally-owned apartment buildings, we obtain random variation in home ownership for otherwise similar buildings with similar tenants. Granular data on demographics,...

Today the financial services sector has become highly diversified offering the investor with a wide range of investment avenues. With proper investment strategies and financial planning investor can increase personal wealth which will contribute to higher economic growth. Economic growth is...

Behavioural Finance combines psychology with financial theory to comprehend the associations between markets, emotions, personality and reason. Investors have dissimilar outlook when they choose about investing in a specific avenue. Through appropriate investment strategies and financial...

Formative experiences are a natural candidate for explaining heterogeneity in portfolio choice. However, identifying their impact is challenging because experiences can correlate with unobservables and they may lead to changes in wealth and other determinants of portfolio choice. We overcome...

The recently published Household Finance and Consumption Survey has revealed large differences in wealth inequality between the countries of the Euro area. We find a strong negative correlation between wealth inequality and homeownership rates across countries. We use two decomposition methods...