I discuss two alternative notions of social welfare (utilitarian and self- enforcing) in a dynastic model with heterogeneous and persistent degrees of parental altruism and evaluate the implied levels of consumption inequality. Then, I study a decentralization of planning optima in a competitive...

We consider optimal taxation in a model with wealth-poor and wealth-rich households, where wealth derives from business capital and home ownership, and investigate the consequences of a rising wealth inequality at steady state on these tax rates. The optimal tax structure includes some taxation...

I analyze an overlapping generations model with old age productivity risk where wages, employment and severance payments are set through efficient bargaining between risk averse unions and risk neutral firms. Equilibrium allocations with limited union membership are second-best inefficient as...