Asset pricing and the role of macroeconomic volatility

Abstract

Standard Real Business Cycle (RBC) models are well known to generate counter-factual asset pricing implications. This study provides a simple extension to the prior literature by studying an economy that follows a regime-switching process in conjunction with Epstein–Zin preferences for consumers. We provide a detailed theoretical and numerical analysis of the model’s predictions. We also show that a reasonable parameterization of our model conveys financial figures in line with US postwar data. Furthermore, we provide evidence in support of modeling a regime-dependent macroeconomic risk.