This paper addresses the following unresolved questions: Why do some firms issue equity instead of debt? Why did most firms retain their cash holdings instead of distributing them as dividends in recent times? How do firms change their financing policies during a period of severe financial...

The purpose of this paper is to provide a coherent framework in which the main characteristics of growth, uncertainty and crisis are connected. Within this framework, we find that these issues, which were so prominent in East Asia, are consequences of the chosen development strategy. Thus, we...

We study the impact of ambiguity on two alternative institutions of financial intermediation in an economy where consumers face uncertain liquidity needs. The ambiguity the consumers experience is modeled by the degree of confidence in their additive beliefs. We analyze the optimal liquidity...