The fact that minimum wages seem specially binding for young workers has led some countries to adopt age-differentiated minimum wages. We develop a dynamic two sector labor market model where workers with heterogeneous endowments of natural skills gain productivity through experience. We compare...

The banking crisis in Chile in 1981-83 was widespread - representing about 60 percent of the banking system's total portfolio. The crisis arose because of macroeconomic problems and was exacerbated by unsound financial practices. The government was faced with two extreme solutions: to let...

We use the August 2007 crisis episode to gauge the <italic>causal effect</italic> of financial contracting on real firm behavior. We identify heterogeneity in financial contracting at the onset of the crisis by exploiting <italic>ex-ante</italic> variation in long-term debt maturity structure. Using a difference-in-differences...

The 2005 split-share reform in China mandated the conversion of nontradable stocks into tradable status. This paper examines the effects of stock markets on corporate outcomes exploiting multiple institutional features of the Chinese conversion program. Using a generalized propensity score...

We characterize the relation between asset structure and capital structure by exploiting variation in the salability of corporate assets. Theory suggests that asset tangibility increases borrowing capacity because it allows creditors to more easily repossess a firm's assets. Tangible assets,...

We characterize the relation between corporate asset structure and capital structure by exploitingvariation in the salability of tangible assets. Theory suggests that tangibility increases borrowingcapacity because it allows creditors to more easily repossess a firm’s assets. Tangible assets,...

This paper looks at internal capital markets in financial conglomerates by comparing the responses of small subsidiary and independent banks to monetary policy. I find that internal capital markets in financial conglomerates relax the credit constraints faced by smaller bank affiliates. Further...