John H. Boyd
Bio
Most of my research involves economic dynamics, both in optimal growth and equilibrium settings.
I have particularly focused on models with flexible discounting, especially recursive utility, and examined how the interplay between technology and discounting affects all aspects of these models. When there is recursive utility, the discount rate changes depending on future wealth. This results in a richer set of long-run behavior than standard fixed discount rate models. Among other advantages, it allows the construction of equilibrium models where discounting differs across households without imposing a degenerate long-run income distribution. Much of my previous work is aimed at finding conditions that guarantee existence of solutions and then characterizing the solutions, both in the optimal growth and equilibrium frameworks. More recently, I've been looking into cases where sustained growth (and in particular, the rate of growth itself) can affect the long-run income distribution of an economy.
I am currently working on some problems that arise when growth is produced by a technology that is subject to network effects.
Selected Publications
Capital Theory, Equilibrium Analysis, and Recursive Utility, with R. A. Becker, Blackwell (1997).
Fundamental Nonconvexities in Arrovian Markets and a Coasian Solution to the Problem of Externalities [with J. Conley], Journal of Economic Theory, 72:388-407 (1997).
The Existence of Steady States in Multisector Capital Accumulation Models with Recursive Preferences, Journal of Economic Theory, 71:289-297 (1996).
Recursive Utility: Discrete-Time Theory [with R. A. Becker], Hitotsubashi Journal of Economics, 34:49-98 (1993).
The Existence of Competitive Equilibrium over an Infinite Horizon with Production and General Consumption Sets [with L. W. McKenzie], International Economic Review, 34:1-20 (1993).
Recursive Utility and Optimal Capital Accumulation, II: Sensitivity and Duality," with R. A. Becker, Economic Theory, pp. 547-563, 1992.
The Existence of Ramsey Equilibrium [with R. A. Becker and C. Foias], Econometrica, 59:441-460 (1991).
Symmetries, Dynamic Equilibria and the Value Function, in R. Sato and R. Ramachandran, eds., Conservation Laws and Symmetry: Applications to Economics and Finance, Kluwer, 225-259 (1990).
Recursive Utility and the Ramsey Problem, Journal of Economic Theory, 50:326-345 (1990).
Recursive Utility and Optimal Capital Accumulation, I: Existence [with R. A. Becker and B. Y. Sung], Journal of Economic Theory, 47:76-100 (1989).