We present a model where default occurs because of a country's limited commitment to repay. In this model, default is costly to the country as it leads to a loss of income and a denial of access to markets. If a country's debt is high and income is persistently low, the country defaults on its...

Detrended Total Factor Productivity (TFP), net of changes in capital utilization, fell by 3.3% after the Korean 1997 financial crisis. We construct a small open economy model that accounts for 30.0% of the fall in response to a sudden stop of capital inflows and an increase in international...

I combine two previously separate strands of the bargaining literature to present a bargaining model with both one-sided private information and a majority vote for proposals to go into effect. I use this model to show that the US bankruptcy code produces shorter delays and higher welfare than...

This paper develops a new quantitative theory of long-term unsecured credit contracts. Households can default and can switch credit lines. Banks can change the credit limit at any time, but must commit to the interest rate or not depending on the regulatory setting. Without commitment, the...

This paper develops a new theory of long term unsecured credit contracts based on costly contracting that matches the data in a variety of dimensions. Credit lines are long term relations between lending firms and households that pre-specify a credit limit and interest rate in each period....

This paper studies properties of economies with complete markets where there is positive default on consumer debt. Households can default partially, at a punishment cost, and intermediaries price this risk competitively. This en- vironment yields only partial insurance. The risk-based pricing of...

In this paper we produce a theory of partial default applicable to sovereign debt. The theory uses Markovian equilibria and the notion that circulating unpaid coupons of any given country courtail its productive capabilities. As a consequence no issues of equilibrium selection appear in the...