Building on the investment-based asset pricing framework, we show that firms’ ability to timely scale down their operations reduces the sensitivity of their equity value to large adverse productivity shocks. Using U.S. data in the times of the COVID-19 pandemic, we provide empirical evidence...

We study a novel mechanism through which real options play a prominent role in inducing the skewness of stock returns. Building on the investment-based asset pricing framework, we show that firms’ real options to contract (expand) their businesses when productivity is low (high) can increase...

We investigate whether risk-taking for resurrection type of risk preference (non-constant risk aversion) can increase the probability of achieving inflation-indexed pension benefits at retirement, especially when the starting position is underfunded. By maximizing the expected utility of the...

Marketing research relies on individual-level estimates to understand the rich heterogeneity that exists in consumers, firms, and products. While much of the literature focuses on capturing static cross-sectional heterogeneity, little research has been done on modeling dynamic heterogeneity, or...

The Taiping Rebellion (1851-1864) in China was the deadliest civil war in history. This paper provides evidence that this cataclysmic event significantly shaped the Malthusian transition and long-term development that followed, especially in areas where the experiences that stemmed from the...

This paper combines national accounts, household surveys, fiscal data, wealth rankings and election polls, in order to provide a comprehensive analysis of the evolution of income and wealth inequality in Hong Kong, as well as its impact on political cleavages over the 1981-2020 period. We find a...

We investigate whether risk-taking for resurrection type of risk preference (non-constant risk aversion) can increase the probability of achieving inflation-indexed pension benefits at retirement, especially when the starting position is underfunded. By maximizing the expected utility of the...