Using longitudinal data from PSID, we show the positive relation between labor income and the equity share of financial wealth is stronger for those who have a higher persistence in shocks to permanent labor income. The results support the hypothesis that the cross sectional variation in...

We develop a dynamic stochastic equilibrium model of two locations within a city where heterogeneous households make joint location and tenure mode decisions. To investigate the effect of homeownership on equilibrium prices and allocations, we compare the response of this model economy to a...

This paper investigates empirically why Japan’s household savings rate fell in the 1990s. We constructed an economic model consisting of two types of household: unconstrained life-cycle households and liquidity-constrained households. Unconstrained households generally save, but...

This article is a "sequel" to my first law review article on runaway productions called "Through the Looking Glass": Runaway Productions and "Hollywood Economics," published in The University of Pennsylvania Journal of Labor and Employment Law in August 2007. Since 2007, there has been a race to...

This brief essay, appearing in a regular column on "Teaching Health Law," describes the author's experience using the Michael Moore film, "Sicko," in the classroom. Students were assigned to watch the film and discuss relevant legal rules and policy issues in health care financing, health care...

This paper assesses the effects that an introduction of the French family splitting mechanism would have on German families' labour supply and intra-household consumption behaviour. We use simulated real world microdata created by means of a 'deterministic' collective labour supply model. The...

French Abstract: Le bonheur est un état d'esprit universel. Cependant, sa signification prend des formes spécifiques à la culture, allant des états d'esprit émotionnels à la satisfaction générale de la vie. La définition du « bonheur » est fortement influencée par le contexte...

This paper advances the hypothesis that the intensity of status preferences depends negatively on the average wealth of society (endogenous dynamic status effect), in accordance with empirical evidence. Our theory replicates the contradictory historical facts of an increasing saving rate along...

The credit crisis has revealed economic inequalities across the world, yet it has emphasized transitions in the way middle class and working class people have handled wealth and consumption. This has mostly been focused in the press on changes in home ownership but has had dramatic effects in...

I analyze the impact of an increase in SNAP benefits (the supplemental nutrition assistance program, formerly called food stamps) on shopping behavior, consumption choice, and prices. Using consumer scanner data, I show that the increase in benefits due to ARRA (American Recovery and...