This paper proposes a theoretical framework to analyze the relationship between credit shocks, firm defaults and … volatility, and to study the impact of credit shocks on business cycle dynamics. Firms are identical ex ante but differ ex post … economy. A positive credit shock, defined as a rise in the loan-to-deposit ratio, increases output, consumption, hours and …

rights. We use the market for credit default swaps (CDSs) as a laboratory to show that such debt decoupling causes large …