| This thesis is a collection of essays in macroeconomics and international economics with topics ranging from the consumption and savings choice over the life cycle, intergenerational household transfers, and to the benefits of international trade liberalization.; In the first chapter, we study how Korean households make saving and portfolio allocation decisions by constructing a quantitative lifecycle model with friction. The model incorporates the special roles housing plays in the portfolio of households: collateral, a source of service flows, as well as a source of potential capital gains or losses. In the model, a household first makes the decision whether to rent or to buy a house and then chooses the housing value. The model adds to existing models of wealth accumulation some unique institutional features present in Korea. The paper also analyzes the role of institutional features and the introduction of a pay-as-you-go social security system to assess their impact on wealth accumulation, portfolio choices, and the pattern of homeownership.; In the second chapter, we study the potential effects of a trade liberalization experience: Slovenia joining the European Union. We construct a static Applied General Equilibrium Model and perform a numerical experiment that consists on eliminating all import tariffs that Slovenia impose on the European Union. To calibrate our models, we work with InputOutput tables and construct a Social Accounting Matrix. We perform additional numerical experiments, such as sensitivity analysis on the import elasticities of substitution, a partial liberalization scenario, and an alternative free trade agreement framework for Slovenia.; In the third part of the thesis, we study the interaction between intergenerational transfers and borrowing constraints in Korea. We briefly outline a simple model to understand the linkage between transfers and borrowing constraints. We also present empirical evidence on how the transfer decision and the transfer amounts are linked to different variables that reflect borrowing constraints. |
