Macroeconomics is evolving from the study of aggregate dynamics to the study of the
dynamics of the entire equilibrium distribution of allocations across individual economic …

We conduct a systematic empirical study of cross-sectional inequality in the United States,
integrating data from the Current Population Survey, the Panel Study of Income Dynamics …

We revisit to what extent the increase in income inequality since 1980 was mirrored by
consumption inequality. We do so by constructing an alternative measure of consumption …

In recent decades, American workers have faced a rising college premium, a narrowing
gender gap, and increasing wage volatility. This paper explores the quantitative and welfare …

Is lifetime inequality mainly due to differences across people established early in life or to
differences in luck experienced over the working lifetime? We answer this question within a …

In this paper, I reassess the evidence on labor income risk. There are two leading views on
the nature of the income process in the current literature. The first view, which I call the …

We assess the degree of consumption smoothing implicit in a calibrated life-cycle version of
the standard incomplete-markets model, and we compare it to the empirical estimates of …

This paper derives optimal income tax and human capital policies in a life cycle model with
risky human capital. The government faces asymmetric information regarding agents' ability …

We develop a model with partial insurance against idiosyncratic wage shocks to quantify risk
sharing. Closed-form solutions are obtained for equilibrium allocations and for moments of …

We revisit two well-known facts regarding life cycle expenditures: the “hump”-shaped profile
of nondurable expenditures and the increase in cross-household consumption inequality …