We use Portuguese firm-level data to investigate whether changes in resource misallocation may have contributed to the poor economic performance of some southern and peripheral European countries leading up to the Eurozone crisis. We extend Hsieh and Klenow's (2009) methodology to include...

The choice of instruments for mitigating economic volatility is a serious consideration for policymakers and important question in government and economics. Using a DSGE model with endogenous technology creation, we show that efficient financial markets are more effective than conventional...

This article explores how the theory of, “responsive regulation,” might guide historical inquiry into the American origins of the global financial crisis. Part I of the article briefly lays out some key ideas of the, “responsive regulation,” literature, and sketches how advocates of this...

For many years corporate lenders have been a crucial force in the boardroom, providing a check on management and contributing to firm governance. However, lenders’ influence has receded in recent years for a large and important class of corporate borrowers. The culprit is a familiar one in a...

Governments in the EU frequently bail out firms in distress by granting state aid. I use data from 86 cases during the years 1995-2003 to examine two issues: the impact of bailouts on bankruptcy probability and the determinants of bailout policy. I have three main results. First, the estimated...

In this paper, we document the fact that countries that have experienced occasional financial crises have, on average, grown faster than countries with stable financial conditions. We measure the incidence of crisis with the skewness of credit growth, and find that it has a robust negative...

In this paper, we document the fact that countries that have experienced occasional financial crises have on average grown faster than countries with stable financial conditions. We measure the incidence of crisis with the skewness of credit growth, and find that it has a robust negative effect...

In a Kaleckian distribution and growth model with workers' debt we examine the short- and long-run effects of three stylized facts of 'finance-dominated capitalism': a fall in animal spirits of the firm sector with respect to real investment in capital stock, re-distribution of income at the...

It is argued that productivity gains should be maintained during times of severe financial and economic crises so that the economy gets back on track and does not get trapped in a state of underperformance. Innovation is an important factor in productivity improvement. We use historical patent...

This paper introduces a bubbly asset to a standard macroeconomic model with heterogeneous agents and borrowing constraints. In this tractable quantitative framework, I show the possibility of a return-preserving bubble that absorbs savings with no good investment opportunities. Analysis of the...