We construct and estimate an economic model of religious giving. We employ a dynamic consumer optimization model with mortality in which intra-temporal utility stems from both consumption and religious contributions. Individuals also decide how to allocate resources between religious...

This chapter analyzes the effects of an aging population on individual skill choices and the production structure by means of a dynamic general equilibrium model with overlapping generations and probabilistic aging. The model allows for capital-skill complementarity, which strongly affects the...

The empirical work on household portfolio choice documents two facts. One, the stock market participation rate is low and hump-shaped over the life-cycle, two, the conditional share of stocks is also low but does not appear to change much during the life-cycle. In contrast the standard...

This paper investigates the diversification demand of an agent, who is faced with the alternative to swap aggregate labour-income risk for equity-exposure, through her individual account in a mandatory-pension scheme. The framework for the analysis is a life-cycle model of a...

This paper investigates some welfare effects of forced saving through a mandatory pension scheme. The framework for the analysis is a life-cycle model of a borrowing constrained individual´s consumption and portfolio choice in the presence of uncertain labour income and realistically calibrated...

A simple model of process innovation is proposed, where firms learn about their ideal production process by making prototypes. We build around this a dynamic general equilibrium model, and derive conditions under which diversified and specialised cities coexist. New products are developed in...

As an alternative fuel for compression ignition engines, plant oils are in principle renewable and carbon-neutral. However, their use raises technical, economic and environmental issues. A comprehensive and up-to-date technical review of using both edible and non-edible plant oils (either pure...

Standard theory of intertemporal choice predicts that people smooth out life-cycle changes in income by borrowing and saving, such that their standard of living in any given year depends more on lifetime income than on that year’s income. Yet, contemporary empirical studies of income...

Empirical research has revealed some regularities regarding the innovation that takes place over the industry life-cycle. First, innovation is high when an industry is young and low when the industry matures, and second, product innovation decreases with industry maturity, while process...