Labor Supply Flexibility and Portfolio Choice in a Life-Cycle ModelZvi Bodie (), Robert Merton and William F. Samuelson No 3954, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc Abstract: This paper examines the effect of the labor-leisure choice on portfolio and consumption decisions over an individual's life cycle. The model incorporates the fact that individuals may have considerable flexibility in varying their work effort (including their choice of when to retire). Given this flexibility, the individual simultaneously determines optimal levels of current consumption, labor effort, and an optimal financial investment strategy at each point in his life cycle. We show that labor and investment choices are intimately related. The ability to vary labor supply ex post induces the individual to assume greater risks in his investment portfolio ex ante. The model explains why the young (enjoying greater labor flexibility over their working lives) may take greater investment risks than the old. It also offers an explanation as to why consumption spending is relatively "smooth" despite volatility in asset prices. Finally, the paper provides a compact method for valuing the risky cash flows associated with future wage income. Date: 1992-01 Published as Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Vol. 16 (July/October 1992). Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nbr:nberwo:3954 Ordering information: This working paper can be ordered from Access Statistics for this paper More papers in NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc National Bureau of Economic Research, 1050 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.. Contact information at EDIRC. |
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