Policy Reforms , Housing , and Wealth Inequality ∗
نویسندگان
چکیده
I develop a quantitative, dynamic general equilibrium model of life cycle behavior to study the effects of several policy reforms on assets composition over the life cycle, wealth distribution and aggregate saving. Privatizing social security increases aggregate saving, decreases overall wealth inequality, and generates large welfare gain, especially for agents with high initial productivity. Lowering down payment encourages income poor households to hold more housing assets and generates a welfare gain for agents with low initial productivity. Lowering transaction costs encourages households to hold more housing assets and generates a welfare gain for agents of every initial productivity. JEL Classification: E21, H31, J14, R21
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