This paper proposes a two-country model that features time-varying heterogeneity in conditional risk aversion across countries, endogenously arising from the interaction between external habit formation and preference home bias. The model generates high international correlation of state prices along with modest cross-country consumption growth correlation and matches the empirical disconnect between exchange rate changes and consumption growth rate differentials. The key mechanism is endogenous time variation in conditional consumption growth volatility: the conditionally less risk averse country insures the more risk averse one, offsetting cross-country heterogeneity in conditional risk aversion and leading to significant international comovement in marginal utility growth. Received February 1, 2012; editorial decision April 19, 2016 by Editor Pietro Veronesi.

We show that the cross-sectional dispersion of conditional foreign exchange (FX) correlation is countercyclical and that currencies that perform badly (well) during periods of high dispersion yield high (low) average excess returns. We also find a negative cross-sectional association between average FX correlations and average option-implied FX correlation risk premiums. Our findings show that while investors in spot currency markets require a positive risk premium for exposure to high dispersion states, FX option prices are consistent with investors being compensated for the risk of low dispersion states. To address our empirical findings, we propose a no-arbitrage model that features unspanned FX correlation risk.