This paper looks at the empirical consequences of inappropriately using a representative firm to mimic the aggregate investment decisions of a group of heterogeneous firms faced with costs of adjusting capital inputs. Improper aggregation generates a bias with two important consequences: (1) an...

This study examines the relationship between specifications for long-run output patterns and specifications for business cycle dynamics. In an application to US GDP, it is found that inferences about the nature of the trend in output are not robust to changes in the specification for short-run...

Richer and healthier agents tend to hold riskier portfolios and spend proportionallyless on health expenditures. Potential explanations include health and wealth eects onpreferences, expected longevity or disposable total wealth. Using HRS data, we perform astructural estimation of a dynamic...

Reference–dependent preference models assume that agents derive utility fromdeviations of consumption from benchmark levels, rather than from consumptionlevels. These references can be either backward-looking (as explicit in the Habit literature) or forward-looking (as implicitly suggested by...

This paper proposes a new wealth-dependent utility function for the inter-temporal consumption and portfolio problem, in which the subsistance (bliss) con-sumption level is a function of wealth. Ratchet effects obtain when higher wealth in-creases the subsistance consumption level; blas´...

This paper analyzes the important time variation in U.S. aggregate portfolio allocations. To do so, we first use flexible descriptions of preferences and investment opportunities to derive optimal decision rules that nest tactical, myopic, and strategic portfolio allocations. We then compare...