Most economic models implicitly or explicitly assume that interactions between economic agents are 'global' - in other words, each agent interacts in a uniform manner with every other agent. However, localized interactions between microeconomic agents are a pervasive feature of reality. What are...

In this paper, we examine net investment during the early stages of transition using micro data on the population of medium and large industrial firms in the Czech Republic during the 1992-95 period. We examine the relevance of alternative models of investment and test if investment behavior...

This paper analyzes the impact of different types of barriers on the decision to invest using a simple framework based on stochastic discount factors. Our intuitive approach proposes an alternative to the real options methodology that does not rely on the “smooth-pasting condition.” An...

In this paper, we provide a dynamic general equilibrium framework with an explicit investment-financing constraint. The constraint is intended as a reduced form to capture the balance sheet effects that have been widely regarded as an important determinant of financial crises. We derive a link...

This paper presents a model where agents decide on the timing of replacement of ageing machines. The optimal replacement policy for an agent is influenced by other agents' decisions because the productivity of a particular vintage displays network externalities that set in with a lag. In...

Limited liability debt financing of irreversible investments can affect investment timing through an entrepreneur's option value, even after compensating a lender for expected default losses. This non-neutrality of debt arises from an entrepreneur's unique investment opportunity, and it is shown...

This paper documents the delayed adoption of a major technological innovation: the adoption of the diesel locomotive in the US railway industry. Contrary to other instances of major technological innovations, the delay in the adoption of the diesel locomotive was not associated with an initial...

This paper proposes and applies a method of moments to estimate dynamic decision models with corner solutions. The method extends previous results by Hotz and Miller (1993) and Pakes (1994), and it allows for unobserved state variables affecting both the continuous choice (interior solution) and...