In this paper we show how one can separately identify the information sets of agents, how the information sets evolve over the life cycle, as well as the distribution of risk aversion. We estimate the model using white males from NLSY/79.

This paper builds on methods developed to estimate ex ante inequality. We use a life cycle fertility model to estimate how much people know about their income at different points in time. We exploit the key idea that if people know something and use that information in their fertility decisions,...

We propose and estimate a model to quantify the direct and indirect effects of income tax on marital status, fertility and labor force participation. We show identification of the model and estimate it using the NLSY/79 data. We simulate different tax regimes.

In contrast, the standard exogenous constraint model cannot simultaneously explain observations (i) and (ii) under standard assumptions about preferences; it is also silent on the rise in private lending. By incorporating both public and private lending, our framework offers new insights...