We provide two ways to reconcile small values of the intertemporal elasticity of substitution (IES) that range between 0.35 and 0.5 with empirical evidence that the IES is large. We do this reconciliation using a model in which all agents have identical preferences and the same access to asset...

We study structural change in a simple, two-sector endogenous growth model and show that the presence of commodity-specific consumption externalities can be a source of structural change. When the degrees of consumption externalities are different between different goods, the two sectors grow at...

This paper shows that the consumption-based asset pricing model (C-CAPM) with low-probability disaster risk rationalizes large pricing errors, i.e., Euler equation errors. This result is remarkable, since Lettau and Ludvigson (2009) show that leading asset pricing models cannot explain sizeable...

This paper studies the Cass-Koopmans-Ramsey model of optimal economic growth in the presence of loss aversion and habit formation. The representative agent's preferences for consumption can be gradually varied between the standard constant intertemporal elasticity of substitution (CIES) case and...

Starting from a review of the main strands of orthodox and heterodox distribution and growth models and their distinguishing features, with the post-Kaleckian Bhaduri/Marglin (1990) (and Kurz 1990) model as a specific, but highly flexible variant of heterodox distribution and growth theories, we...

In this paper, I present a theory of dynamic economic growth, business cycles, and asset pricing that integrates (1) Marx's idea (and emphasized by Klein) of a two-class heterogeneity of the ownership structure of physical capital and human capital in a capitalist society, (2) Keynes' idea of...

Social science research has shown that intelligence is positively correlated with patience, while growth theory predicts that more patient countries will save more. In a closed economy, that means high average IQ countries will become more capital-intensive. In an open economy, high average IQ...

Based on a dynamic general equilibrium model we study how the composition of technical progress, along three dimensions, affects transitional dynamics, with an emphasis on the speed of convergence. The three dimensions are, first, the degree to which technical change is embodied, second, the...

We study structural change in a simple, two-sector endogenous growth model and show that the presence of commodity-specific consumption externalities can be a source of structural change. When the degrees of consumption externalities are different between different goods, the two sectors grow at...

This paper quantifies the welfare cost of consumption externalities in an endogenous growth model with habit formation. Agent's utility depends on both current consumption and a reference consumption level determined by economy-wide average past consumption. Although utility may be lower in the...