Competitive growth in a life-cycle model : existence and dynamics.

In this paper, the dynamic behaviour of the capital growth rate is analyzed using an overlapping-generations model with continuous trading and finitely lived agents. Assuming a technology satisfying constant returns to capital, the equilibrium growth rate is piecewise-defined by functional differential equations with both delayed and advanced terms. The existence of a solution expressed as a series of exponentials crucially depends on the initial wealth distribution among cohorts. Upon existence, the dynamics of the capital growth rate has a saddle-point trajectory that converges to a unique steady-state. Along the transition path, the growth rate exhibits exponentially decreasing oscillations.