We estimate the response of corporate bond credit spreads to three exogenous shocks: oil supply, investment-specific technology, and government spending. Credit spreads respond significantly to these macroeconomic shocks; the response is similar in magnitude, opposite in sign, and with a slight...

We document that mortgaged homebuyers pay an 11% premium relative to all-cash buyers in residential real estate transactions. This premium far exceeds the 3\% premium implied by a realistically calibrated model of rational home sellers with transaction frictions. We obtain similar results from...

The dissertation consists of three essays in asset pricing. Chapter I is motivated by the recent surge in institutional investment in commodity futures markets. The chapter studies how commodity risk is priced in stock and futures markets and asks whether this risk premium is time-varying with...

We show that inflation risk is priced in stock returns and that inflation risk premia in the cross-section and the aggregate market vary over time, even changing sign as in the early 2000s. This time variation is due to both price and quantities of inflation risk changing over time. Using a...