We analyze the returns to education in a life-cycle framework that incorporates risk preferences, earnings volatility (including unemployment), and a progressive income tax and social insurance system. We show that such a framework significantly reduces the measured gains from education relative...

This paper investigates whether there are variants of the permanent income model that are consistent with seasonally unadjusted quarterly postwar Canadian data. The analysis is based on a misspecification-test equation which nests the standard permanent income model. The results obtaineda re...

Households face earnings risk which is non-normal and varies by age and over the income distribution. We show that, in the context of a structurally estimated life-cycle portfolio choice model, allowing for these rich features of earnings dynamics helps to better understand the limited...

We consider nonparametric identification and estimation of pricing kernels, or equivalently of marginal utility functions up to scale, in consumption based asset pricing Euler equations. Ours is the first paper to prove nonparametric identification of Euler equations under low level conditions...

Various empirical specifications of the permanent income model are investigated using Canadian aggregate data. Tests for structural changes with known and unknown change point are applied to the models estimated by the generalized method of moments. The proportion of current income individuals...

This paper considers a general permanent-income model in which a fraction of consumers in the economy is liquidity constrained. Consumption growth rate for these individuals is related to the growth rate of their income and the level of real interest rates. The interest-rate coefficient is...

This paper estimates and tests several versions of the consumption-based asset pricing model extended to allow for time-nonseparable preferences and/or liquidity constraint proxies, using Canadian aggregate data. It is found that a habit-persistence effect uncovered in the time-nonseparable...

Households face earnings risk which is non-normal and varies by age and over the income distribution. We show that allowing for these rich features of earnings dynamics, in the context of a structurally estimated life-cycle portfolio choice model, helps to rationalize the limited participation...

Households face earnings risk which is non-normal and varies by age and over the income distribution. We show that allowing for these rich features of earnings dynamics, in the context of a structurally estimated life-cycle portfolio choice model, helps to rationalize the limited participation...

In this paper we analyze the impact of the expectations about future labor income on thesaving behavior of German households. We measure expectations on an individual basisinstead of generalized risk measures as it is common in existing studies. We use aunique panel data set on household...