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Working Paper
From Which Consumption-Based Asset Pricing Models Can Investors Profit? Evidence from Model-Based Priors
This paper compares consumption-based asset pricing models based on the forecasting performance of investors who use economic constraints derived from the models to predict the equity premium. Three prominent asset pricing models are considered: Habit Formation, Long Run Risk, and Prospect Theory. I propose a simple Bayesian framework through which the investors impose the economic constraints as model-based priors on the parameters of their predictive regressions. An investor whose prior beliefs are rooted in the Long Run Risk model achieves more accurate forecasts overall. The greatest ...
Working Paper
A Time Series Model of Interest Rates With the Effective Lower Bound
Modeling interest rates over samples that include the Great Recession requires taking stock of the effective lower bound (ELB) on nominal interest rates. We propose a flexible time? series approach which includes a ?shadow rate??a notional rate that is less than the ELB during the period in which the bound is binding?without imposing no?arbitrage assumptions.{{p}}The approach allows us to estimate the behavior of trend real rates as well as expected future interest rates in recent years.
Working Paper
Understanding Uncertainty Shocks and the Role of Black Swans
Economic uncertainty is a powerful force in the modern economy. Research shows that surges in uncertainty can trigger business cycles, bank runs and asset price fluctuations. But where do sudden surges in uncertainty come from? This paper provides a data-disciplined theory of belief formation that explains large fluctuations in uncertainty. It argues that people do not know the true distribution of macroeconomic outcomes. Like Bayesian econometricians, they estimate a distribution. Our main contribution is to explain why real-time estimation of distributions with non-normal tails results in ...