The paper presents a method for the recursive solution of models with a continuum of heterogeneous agents. Following Krusell and Smith (1998) and others, it is assumed that the wealth distribution in the economy can be represented, to a sufficient degree of accuracy, by a finite number of...

Fluctuations of representative agent economies are not very costly. So if business cycles matter, it must be because agents face uninsured idiosyncratic risk which is somehow worsened by aggregate fluctuation. Idiosyncratic risk could be counteracted either through aggregate stabilization or...