This paper presents a dynamic theory of housing market fluctuations. It develops a life-cycle model where households are heterogeneous with respect to income and preferences, and mortgage lending is restricted by a down-payment requirement. the market interaction of young credit-constrained...

This paper describes how structural bond pricing models can be estimated using a Simulated Maximum Likelihood procedure developed by Durbin and Koopman (1997). The approach has the advantage that price dated on any traded claim (such as bonds, equity, and credit default swaps), as well as...

Linear parabolic partial differential equations (PDE’s) and diffusion models are closely linked through the celebrated Feynman-Kac representation of solutions to PDE’s. In asset pricing theory, this leads to the representation of derivative prices as solutions to PDE’s. We give a number of...

Recent events in several countries have underscored the importance of good governance in private occupational pension plans. The present paper uses contract theory to analyze the interplay of residual claims and control rights in private pensions. The residual claimant is the plan sponsor in a...

We provide a formal analysis of the notion that conglomerates are more ‘entrenched’ as they have ‘deeper pockets’. Using the financial contracting model of Bolton and Scharfstein (1990), we can isolate two effects that confirm this conjecture: the pooling of cash flows, which allows to...

This paper studies optimal intergenerational transfer policy under stochastic labor income and capital returns. It has implications for Social Security, government tax and debt policy, and DB pension funds. A stylized two-period overlapping-generations model is developed where a central planner...

One of the main problems in pension policy is to develop an institutional framework that guarantees that public and private pensions promises are kept. This paper discusses how the governance of public and private pensions is key to making such promises credible. It argues that credibility...

We propose a procedure for estimating the critical values of the Klecan, McFadden, and McFadden (1990) test for first and second order stochastic dominance in the general k-prospect case. Our method is based on subsampling bootstrap. We show that the resulting test is consistent. We allow for...

This paper analyses the theoretical arguments and empirical evidence linking enterprise performance in transition economies to the macroeconomic environment. Macroeconomic instability is traced to the unsustainability of the fiscal-financial and monetary programmes of the state and to regulatory...

The concept of risk-based capital requirements enjoys widespread support. Effective implementation, however, requires that risk be measured accurately both across borrowers and across time. Under the New Capital Accord, the cornerstone of this risk measurement process is the rating of the...