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Journal of Financial Economics Vol. 119 No. 1 2016

Disagreement, speculation, and aggregate investment

Steven D. Baker1; Burton Hollifield2; Emilio Osambela2

1 University of Virginia · 2 Carnegie Mellon University

Abstract

When investors disagree, speculation between them alters equilibrium prices in financial markets. Because managers maximize firm value given financial market prices, disagreement alters firms' value-maximizing investment policies. Disagreement therefore impacts aggregate investment, consumption, and output. In a production economy with recursive preferences and disasters, we demonstrate that static disagreement among investors generates dynamic aggregate investment that is positively correlated with capital shocks, leading to stochastic volatility in aggregate consumption, investment, and equity returns. The direction of these effects is consistent with business cycle facts, and with several features of the 2008 financial crisis.

DOI
10.1016/j.jfineco.2015.08.014
Volume
119
Issue
1
Pages
210-225
Language
en
Sources
bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

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