Since the 1970s, the financial system has undergone deep structural changes. Innovation has been a key driver of these changes and most economists acknowledge that the impact has been positive overall. However, each time a financial crisis arises, the debate is on. Derivatives especially, which...

This paper analyzes the business cycle behavior of the corporate debt structure and its interaction with economic recovery. The debt structure is measured as the share of bonds in the total credit to non-financial corporations for a quarterly panel of twenty five economies over the period...