It is often claimed that the demand externality created by imperfectly competitive markets can provide an analytical basis for Keynesian fiscal policy prescriptions. Here this demand externality is embedded in a model where saving and employment are determined by optimizing choices in an...

According to conventional wisdom, a fiscal consolidation is likely to contract real aggregate demand. It has often been argued, however, that this conclusion is misleading as it neglects the role of expectations of future policy: if the fiscal consolidation is read by the private sector as a...

This paper attempts to evaluate the effects of capital market imperfections on consumer behavior, on the basis of cross-sectional Italian data. We evaluate the difference between desired and observed consumption using a technique proposed by Hayashi. We find that in Italy borrowing constraints...

Since the depth and liquidity of a market depend on the entry decisions of all potential participants, each trader assesses them according to conjectures about entry by others. If trade is equally costly across markets, this externality leads to the concentration of trade on one market. If not,...

The regulations that shape the design and operations of corporations and credit and securities markets differ vastly from country to country. In addition, similar regulations are often unequally enforced in different countries. Economists still have an imperfect understanding of why these...