We estimate a no-arbitrage term structure model of U.S. Treasury yields and corporate bond spreads with both economic factors and latent factors as drivers of term structure dynamics. We consider two sets of economic factors: macro factors consisting of inflation and real activity, and financial...

We study portfolio choice for a finite-horizon investor whose labor income is cointegrated with inflation. We show that this long-run relationship has substantial impact on the riskiness of human capital and consequently on the optimal portfolio strategy. Because cointegration raises the...

In this paper, I utilize and expand on Douglass North and colleagues’ conceptual framework for understanding ideology to investigate the nature of ideological intervention. I argue that ideological intervention is ultimately about unifying the shared mental models of the individuals being...

The effects of the HIV/AIDS epidemic on fertility in Africa remains ill understood. To align the contrasting findings of recent empirical research, we develop a portfolio model that captures the potential trade-off between "quantity" and "quality" of offspring. According to this theoretical...