We study, theoretically and in a quantitative model, the determinants of lender profits in the cross-section of households. We argue that the empirical pattern of high profit margins for high risk contracts calls for a departure from constant markups or ex-post perfect competition models.We...

Using a panel dataset of 26 advanced economies over the five decades preceding the Covid-19 crisis, we show that inequality rises following recessions and that rapidcredit growth in the run up to a downturn exacerbates that effect. A one standard deviation credit boom leads to a 40%...

The difference in unemployment rates between the U.S. and Europe is well documented. In this paper, we develop a model with frictional labor, goods and credit markets to understand how differences in unemployment rates across the U.S. and Europe can be explained by differences in income tax...

We investigate how shocks to the reputation of credit rating agencies and the subsequent introduction of stricter regulation affect investors’ reaction to rating signals. We focus on three major episodes of reputational distress: the Enron/WorldCom scandals, the subprime crisis and the lawsuit...

Direct lenders, non-bank credit intermediaries with low leverage, have become increas-ingly important players in corporate loan markets. In this paper we investigate the role they play in the monetary policy transmission mechanism, using syndicated loan data covering the 2000-2018 period. We...

The Fed’s Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey (SLOOS) is widely considered a good indicator of banks’ lending conditions. We use the change in corporate bond spreads on SLOOS release days to instrument changes in lending standards. A series of estimated IV local projections shows that lending...

We study an economy in which large technology companies, Big Techs (BTs), provide credit to firms operating on their platforms. We focus on two advantages that BTs have with respect to banks: better information on their clients and better enforcement of credit repayment since BTs can exclude a...

Banks in the syndicated loan market have increased their distant lending over the last three decades. Lead banks play a role in participant banks' distant lending decisions but not in a way entirely consistent with them acting as “delegated” monitors. This is partly because participant banks...

Using a panel dataset of 26 advanced economies over the five decades preceding the Covid crisis, we show that inequality rises following recessions and that rapid credit growth in the run up to a downturn exacerbates that effect. A one standard deviation credit boom leads to a 40% amplification...

We construct and implement a test of rational consumer behavior in a highstakes financial market. In particular, we test whether consumers make systematic mistakes in perceiving their mortality risks. We implement this test using data from secondary life insurance markets where consumers with a...