Bliss and growth: optimal policies under uncertainty

Abstract

This thesis conducts a study on growth theory by analyzing how the results of the current optimal growth theory change when households are assumed to have bliss points in their consumption sets. For this purpose a discrete-time, one-sector, stochastic model of endogenous growth, adopting constant returns to scale technology and quadratic utility function, is constructed. The solution of the model through “value function iteration” shows the existence of qualitatively different equilibria, depending on the initial state of the economy. This result demonstrates that it is possible to combine “poverty traps” and “sustained growth” into a common analytical framework.