In dynamic optimization problems with multiple continuous state variables and multiple continuous controls, the method of endogenous gridpoints (ENDG) generates an irregular collection of gridpoints for which standard interpolation techniques do not apply, while alternative interpolation methods are extremely slow. This paper presents an interpolation technique that allows ENDG to be used in mu...

The study of asset price characteristics of stochastic growth models such as the riskfree interest rate, equity premium and the Sharpe ratio has been limited by the lack of global and accurate methods to solve dynamic optimization models. In this paper a stochastic version of a dynamic programming method with adaptive grid scheme is applied to compute the above mentioned asset price characteris...

We construct an intertemporal model of rent-maximizing behaviour on the part of a timber harvester under potentially multi-dimensional risk as well as geographical heterogeneity. Subsequently, we use recursive methods (in particular, the method of dynamic programming) to characterize the optimal policy function, the rent-maximizing timber-harvesting profile. One noteworthy feature of our applic...

We consider a single-asset investment fund that in the absence of transactions costs would hold a constant amount of wealth in the risky asset. In the presence of market frictions wealth is allowed to fluctuate within a control band: Its upper (lower) boundary is chosen so that gains (losses) from adjustments to the target minus (plus) fixed plus proportional transaction costs maximize (minimiz...

We propose an oligopoly game where quantity setting firms have incomplete information about the demand function. At each time step they solve a profit maximization problem assuming a linear demand function and ignoring the effects of the competitors’ outputs. Despite such a rough approximation, that we call “Local Monopolistic Approximation” (LMA), the repeated game may converge at a Nash equil...

Studies of dynamic economic models often rely on each agent having a smooth value function and a well-defined optimal strategy. For time-homogeneous optimal control problems with a one-dimensional diffusion, we prove that the corresponding value function must be twice continuously differentiable under Lipschitz, growth, and non-vanishing-volatility conditions. Under similar conditions, the valu...

In this paper we study the existence of bubbles for pricing equilibria in a pure exchange economy à la Lucas, with infinitely lived homogeneous agents. The model is analyzed under fairly general assumptions: no restrictions either on the stochastic process governing dividends’distribution or on the utilities (possibly unbounded) are required. We prove that the pricing equilibrium is unique as l...

We document a negative relationship between average growth and average volatility in a cross-section of countries. We then provide an interpretation of this result using a robustness (RB) version of the Obstfeld (1994) model of financial diversification and openness. Incorporating a preference for robustness can generate the observed negative relationship between growth and volatility of real G...

Many papers have regressed non-parametric estimates of productive efficiency on environmental variables in two-stage procedures to account for exogenous factors that might affect firms’ performance. None of these have described a coherent data-generating process (DGP). Moreover, conventional approaches to inference employed in these papers are invalid due to complicated, unknown serial correlat...

We motivate the formulation of market equilibrium as a mixed complementarity problem which explicitly represents weak inequalities and complementarity between decision variables and equilibrium conditions. The complementarity format permits an energy-economy model to combine technological detail of a bottom-up energy system with a second-best characterization of the overall economy. Our primary...