Why do similar households end up with very different levels of wealth? We show that differences in the attitudes and skills with which they approach financial planning are a significant factor. We use new and unique survey data to assess these differences and to measure each household's...

We show that a straight forward approximation of the distribution of durable goods holdings gives rise to a tractable equilibrium (S,s) model of durable demand. We analyze both competitive and monopoly supply. We show that equilibrium interactions lead to elongated impulse responses in demand,...

We extend expected utility theory to situations in which the prizes incloude feelings about living with uncertainty. We provide two examples to show the impact of these anticipatory feelings on decision making.

How much information should a policy maker pass on to an ill-informed citizen? In this paper, we address this classic question of Crawford and Sobel (1982)in a setting in which beliefs impact utility, as in Kreps and Porteus (1978). We show that this question cannot be answered using a utility...

After a long dormant period, lower Sixth Avenue in New York has undergone a rapid revitalization. The authors show that a simple search theoretic model with information spillovers can explain both the period of underuse and the rapid turnaround. The model reduces to a simple equation, which...

In welfare theory it is standard to pick the consumption stream that maximizes the welfare of the representative agent. We argue against this position, and show that a benevolent social planner will generally place a greater weight on future consumption than does the representative agent.

How significant are individual differences in self-control? Do these differences impact wealth accumulation? From where do they derive? Our survey-based measure of self-control provides insights into all three questions: 1.There are individual differences in self-control not only of a...

We develop a life-cycle model that captures "absent-mindedness": the fact that many households have only the sketchiest understanding of their pattern of spending. The model generates precautionary spending, whereby absent-minded agents tend to consume more than attentive ones. The model also...