Equilibrium Asset Pricing

This textbook takes the reader from the level of microeconomics principles through to modern asset pricing theory. Yvan Lengwiler elegantly links together issues that have in the past been the territory of general economic theorists on the one hand, and financial economists on the other. In a sequence of carefully explained steps, the reader learns how the first welfare theorem is used in asset pricing theory. The book then moves on to explore Radner economies and von Neumann-Morgenstern decision theory, and this section culminates in Wilson's mutuality principle and the consumption-based CAPM. This is then put into a dynamic setting, and term structure models are introduced. The empirical shortcomings of the standard asset pricing models are extensively discussed, as is research from the last twenty years aimed at bringing theory in line with reality. The reader is brought up to date on the latest areas of concern, such as habit formation, the consequences of heterogeneity, demographic effects, changing tax regimes, market frictions, and the implications of prospect theory for asset pricing. Aimed at masters or Ph.D. students specializing in financial economics, the book can also be used as a supplementary text for students of macroeconomics at this advanced level and will be of interest to finance professionals with a background in economics and mathematics. It includes problems (with solutions), and an accompanying website provides supporting material for lecturers.

This introduction to general equilibrium modelling takes an integrated approach to the analysis of macroeconomics and finance. It provides students, practitioners, and policymakers with an easily accessible set of tools that can be used to analyze a wide range of economic phenomena. Key features: • Provides a consistent framework for understanding dynamic economic models • Introduces key concepts in finance in a discrete time setting • Develops simple recursive approach for analyzing a variety of problems in a dynamic, stochastic environment • Sequentially builds up the analysis of consumption, production, and investment models to study their implications for allocations and asset prices • Reviews business cycle analysis and the business cycle implications of monetary and international models • Covers latest research on asset pricing in overlapping generations models and on models with borrowing constraints and transaction costs • Includes end-of-chapter exercises allowing readers to monitor their understanding of each topic Online resources are available at www.cambridge.org/altug_labadie