In this paper we study a new factor that matters for fertility and consumption decisions: the risks associated with having and raising a child. We analyze a real options model with incomplete markets to explicitly model both children as a risky investment and the parental option to time...

This paper studies children as a risky asset associated to an investment option. Children provide utility but have a stochastic maintenance cost. We obtain several new results relative to models where children are deterministic goods, among which: i) Higher child risks diminish fertility and...

We study the optimal hiring and firing decisions of a firm under two different firing costs regulations: 1) Dual labor markets characterized by high firing costs for workers with seniority above a threshold ("permanent workers") and by low costs for "temporary workers". 2) The Single Labor...

Using a latent variables approach, we estimate the dynamics of dividends and returns in a tractable present-value model with time-varying risks. Expected returns imply a similar return predictability as under homoskedasticity, while expected dividend growth is more persistent and explains a...

Conventional tests of present-value models over-reject the null of no predictability. In order to better account for the intrinsic probability of detecting predictive relations by chance alone, we develop a new nonparametric Monte Carlo testing method, which does not rely on distributional...

Asymptotic tests over-reject the null of no predictability in present-value models. We develop a nonparametric testing approach in state space models, implying reliable finite sample inference under weak assumptions on price-dividend ratio and dividend shocks. We find sharp evidence of return...

Asymptotic tests over-reject the null of no predictability in present-value models. We develop a nonparametric testing approach in state space models, implying reliable finite sample inference under weak assumptions on price-dividend ratio and dividend shocks. We find sharp evidence of return...