We study how competition from privately-supplied currency substitutes affects monetary equilibria. Whenever currency is inefficiently provided, inside money competition plays a disciplinary role by providing an upper bound on equilibrium inflation rates. Furthermore, if ‘inside monies’ can...

The existence of the modified golden rule and the turnpike property are proved for a multi-sector stochastic growth model. The (exogenous) stochastic environment is represented by a stationary stochastic process that influences preferences, technology and resources. A social planner maximizes...

We study how barriers to competition---such as restrictions to business start-up and strict enforcement of covenants or IPR---affect the investment in knowledge capital when contracts are not enforceable. These barriers lower the competition for human capital and reduce the incentive to...

We develop an equilibrium search-matching model with risk-neutral agents and two-sided ex-ante heterogeneity Unemployment insurance has the standard effect of reducing employment, but also helps workers to get a suitable job. The predictions of our simple model are consistent with the...

In this paper we develop a general equilibrium model in which firms finance investment by signing long-term contracts with a financial intermediary. Due to enforceability problems, financial contracts are constrained optimal, that is, they maximize the surplus of the contract subject to...

In this paper we analyze the interaction of two disciplinary mechanisms: competition and reputation. We first study a dynamic model of monopolistic competition with experienced goods (i.e., quality is observed after goods are purchased). When market power is high enough, reputation results in...

Sargent's book provides a reinterpretation of the US inflation record over the last half-century, reflecting on how macroeconomic theory has evolved since the beginnings of the rational expectations revolution. It is a basic reference on dynamic macroeconomic theory.