We formulate an overlapping generations model on optimal emissions with continuous age structure. We compare the noncooperative solution to the cooperative one and obtain fundamental differences in the optimal strategies. Also including an altruistic motive does not avoid the problem of the...

Nearly any standard financial model concludes that two assets with identical cash flows must sell for the same price. Alas, closed-end mutual fund company share prices seem to violate this fundamental tenant. Even when one considers several standard frictions, such as taxes and agency costs,...

In a simple finite-horizon overlapping-generations model where the government has the power to levy commodity taxes and to implement uniform lump-sum transfers, and individuals as well as the government can purchase units of a storable good in order to transfer resources from the present to the...

Rational expectations do not require beliefs to be consistent with history and with what agents can conclude from it. Actually, at a rational expectations equilibrium agents may hold beliefs that explain poorly the history they observe, even when restricted to only those rationalizing their...

Some economic models like the cash-in-advance model of money or overlapping generations model have the property that the dynamics are ill-defined going forward in time, but well-defined going backward in time. In such instances, what does it mean for an ill-defined dynamical system to be...

This paper presents four policy options to make Social Security sustainable under the coming demographic shift: 1) increase payroll taxes by 6 percentage points, 2) reduce the replacement rates of the benefit formula by one-third, 3) raise the normal retirement age from sixty-six to...

In this paper, we assume away standard distributional and static-efficiency arguments for public health, and instead, seek a dynamic efficiency rationale. We study a lifecycle model wherein young agents make health investments to reduce mortality risk. We identify a welfare rationale for public...

Real net social security wealth (NSSW), the real present value of social security benefits received minus social security taxes paid, is frequently used as a direct proxy measure for the impact of a social security system on generation welfare. This article examines the relationship between real...

Aggregation conditions permitting macro variables to be expressed as functions of other macro variables have long been sought in macroeconomics. For example, conditions have been sought permitting aggregate consumption to be expressed as a function of aggregate income, independently of the...

We explore intergenerational and international risk sharing in a general equilibrium multiple-country model with two-tier pensions systems. The exact design of the funded tier is key for the way in which risks are shared over the various generations. The laissez-faire market solution fails to...