I examine asset returns in the context of real dynamic stochastic general equilibrium economies with multiple equilibria (indeterminacy) that allow for aggregate fluctuations due to non‐fundamental belief shocks. The two models include habit formation in preferences. Model 1 combines restrictions on factor mobility and adjustment costs in a one‐sector economy. Model 2 uses restrictions on factor mobility in a two‐sector economy. Results demonstrate that Model 1 fails to match the stylized financial facts. Model 2 replicates the low risk‐free rate and the standard deviation of the return on the risk‐free asset, but underestimates the equity premium and standard deviation of the return on equity.

We consider a simple variant of the standard real business cycle model in which shareholders hire a self-interested executive to manage the firm on their behalf. Delegation gives rise to a generic conflict of interest mediated by a convex (option-like) compensation contract which is able to align the interests of managers and their shareholders. With such a compensation contract, a given increase in the firm's output generated by an additional unit of physical investment results in a more than proportional increase in the manager's income. We find that incentive contracts of this form can easily result in an indeterminate general equilibrium, with business cycles driven by self-fulfilling fluctuations in the manager's expectations. These expectations are unrelated to fundamentals. Arbitrarily large fluctuations in macroeconomic variables may possibly result.

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Terms of use: Documents in AbstractWe consider a simple variant of the standard real business cycle model in which shareholders hire a self-interested executive to manage the fi rm on their behalf. A generic family of compensation contracts similar to those employed in practice is studied. When compensation is convex in the fi rm's own dividend (or share price), a given increase in the fi rm's output generated by an additional unit of physical investment results in a more than proportional increase in the manager's income. Incentive contracts of suffi cient yet modest convexity are shown to result in an indeterminate general equilibrium, one in which business cycles are driven by self-fulfi lling fl uctuations in the manager's expectations that are unrelated to the economy's fundamentals. Arbitrarily large fl uctuations in macroeconomic variables may result. We also provide a theoretical justifi cation for the proposed family of contracts by demonstrating that they yield fi rst-best outcomes for specifi c parameter choices.

We explore asset pricing in the context of the one-sector BenhabibFarmer-Guo (BFG) model with increasing returns to scale in production and compare our results with …nancial implications of the standard dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model. Our main goal is to determine the e¤ects of local indeterminacy and the presence of sunspot shocks on asset pricing. We …nd that the BFG model does not adequately represent key stylized facts of U.S. capital markets and does not improve on the asset pricing results obtained in the standard DSGE model.

We consider a simple variant of the standard real business cycle model in which shareholders hire a self-interested executive to manage the firm on their behalf. Delegation gives rise to a generic conflict of interest mediated by a convex (option-like) compensation contract which is able to align the interests of managers and their shareholders. With such a compensation contract, a given increase in the firm's output generated by an additional unit of physical investment results in a more than proportional increase in the manager's income. We find that incentive contracts of this form can easily result in an indeterminate general equilibrium, with business cycles driven by self-fulfilling fluctuations in the manager's expectations. These expectations are unrelated to fundamentals. Arbitrarily large fluctuations in macroeconomic variables may possibly result.