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Risk Matters: Breaking Certainty Equivalence

Author

Listed:
  • Juan Carlos Parra-Alvarez

    (Aarhus University, CREATES and the Danish Finance Institute)

  • Hamza Polattimur

    (Universität Hamburg)

  • Olaf Posch

    (Universität Hamburg and CREATES)

Abstract

In this paper we use the property that certainty equivalence, as implied by a first-order approximation to the solution of stochastic discrete-time models, breaks in its equivalent continuous-time version. We study the extent to which a first-order approximated solution built by perturbation methods accounts for risk. We show that risk matters economically in a real business cycle (RBC) model with habit formation and capital adjustment costs and that neglecting risk leads to substantial pricing errors. A first-order approximation in continuous time reduces pricing errors by 90 percent relative to the certainty equivalent linear solution.

Suggested Citation

  • Juan Carlos Parra-Alvarez & Hamza Polattimur & Olaf Posch, 2020. "Risk Matters: Breaking Certainty Equivalence," CREATES Research Papers 2020-02, Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University.
  • Handle: RePEc:aah:create:2020-02
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Anine E. Bolko & Kim Christensen & Mikko S. Pakkanen & Bezirgen Veliyev, 2020. "Roughness in spot variance? A GMM approach for estimation of fractional log-normal stochastic volatility models using realized measures," CREATES Research Papers 2020-12, Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University.
    3. Posch, Olaf, 2018. "Resurrecting the New-Keynesian Model: (Un)conventional Policy and the Taylor rule," VfS Annual Conference 2018 (Freiburg, Breisgau): Digital Economy 181616, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    4. J. Eduardo Vera-Valdés, 2021. "Temperature Anomalies, Long Memory, and Aggregation," Econometrics, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-22, March.
    5. Morten Ørregaard Nielsen & Antoine L. Noël, 2020. "To infinity and beyond: Efficient computation of ARCH(1) models," CREATES Research Papers 2020-13, Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Certainty equivalence; Perturbation methods; Pricing errors;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C02 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - General - - - Mathematical Economics
    • C61 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Optimization Techniques; Programming Models; Dynamic Analysis
    • C63 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Computational Techniques
    • E13 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models - - - Neoclassical
    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates

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