Income Distribution Commons^™

Poverty In New York City: Consumption Expenditure As A Poverty Predictor, Michael Lomtevas

Student Theses and Dissertations

This thesis seeks to replicate the findings of a 2012 study published by Meyer and Sullivan in the Journal of Economic Perspectives using data provided by the Columbia University Longitudinal Wellness Survey. That study found that a poverty measure based on consumption predicted material hardship better than both the Official (OPM) and Supplemental Poverty Measures (SPM). This was found to be the case because a well-constructed consumption poverty measure (CPM) captures in-kind benefits that the OPM neglects. Such a measure also avoids issues inherent in the SPM that arise from respondents underreporting their income and includes the ability to consume …

Essays On Wealth Inequality And Asset Pricing, Georgios Koimisis

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Economic and financial theories are often found to be in conflict with empirical evidence, suggesting revisions and elaborations of existing models. There are usually many revisions proposed in response to these "puzzles", but often the true resolution may be a factor not yet realized. This dissertation consists of three chapters and contributes to the explanation of a persistent and significant anomaly, the equity premium puzzle, by taking into account the implications of wealth inequality on consumer preferences and, consequently, on asset prices.

The first chapter examines how wealth inequality affects asset prices in a complete market setting. Wealth inequality is …