This paper proposes a theory of long-run development based on public infrastructure as the main engine of growth. The government, in addition to investing in infrastructure, spends on health services, which in turn raise labor productivity and lower the rate of time preference. Infrastructure...

In an overlapping generations economy households (lenders) fund risky investment projects of firms (borrowers) by drawing up loan contracts on the basis of asymmetric information. An optimal contract entails either the issue of only debt or the issue of both debt and equity according to whether...

This paper develops a simple static model with credit market imperfections and flexible prices for monetary policy analysis in a fixed-exchange rate economy. Lending rates are set as a premium over the cost of borrowing from the central bank. The premium itself depends on firms' net worth. In...