With heterogeneity in both skills and discount factors, the Atkinson-Stiglitz theorem that savings should not be taxed does not hold. We consider a model with heterogeneity of preferences at each earnings level. With some assumptions on the equilibrium, a small savings tax on high earners and a...

Individuals have differing beliefs about risks they face and their ability to mitigate these risks. Profit-maximizing firms exploit these differences, even if beliefs are unobservable. I show that firms screen identical agents with different beliefs by providing less insurance to optimists than...

This paper analyzes unemployment insurance contracts that combine monetary benefits and training. Unemployment insurance trades off the provision of search incentives and insurance against both the temporary loss of income and future losses in earnings due to the decrease in human capital. Human...

This paper provides a simple, yet general framework to analyze the optimal time profile of benefits during the unemployment spell. We derive simple sufficient-statistics formulae capturing the insurance value and incentive costs of unemployment benefits paid at different times during the...