Search Results
Showing results 1 to 10 of approximately 80.
(refine search)
Working Paper
Debt dilution and seniority in a model of defaultable sovereign debt
An important ineffciency in sovereign debt markets is debt dilution, wherein sovereigns ignore the adverse impact of new debt on the value of existing debt and, consequently, borrow too much and default too frequently. A widely proposed remedy is the inclusion of seniority clause in sovereign debt contracts: Creditors who lent first have priority in any restructuring proceedings. We incorporate seniority in a quantitatively realistic model of sovereign debt and find that seniority is quite effective in mitigating the dilution problem. We also show theoretically that seniority cannot be fully ...
Working Paper
Self-Fulfilling Debt Crises, Revisited
We revisit self-fulfilling rollover crises by exploring the potential uncertainty introduced by a gap in time (however small) between an auction of new debt and the payment of maturing liabilities. It is well known (Cole and Kehoe, 2000) that the lack of commitment at the time of auction to repayment of imminently maturing debt can generate a run on debt, leading to a failed auction and immediate default. We show that the same lack of commitment leads to a rich set of possible self-fulfilling crises, including a government that issues more debt because of the crisis, albeit at depressed ...
Working Paper
Matching and learning in cities: urban density and the rate of invention
This paper examines the role local labor markets play in the production of innovations. The authors appeal to a labor market matching model ( la Berliant, Reed, and Wang 2004) to argue that in dense urban areas, workers are more selective in their matches and are therefore more productive. They find that, all else equal, patent intensity (patents per capita) is 20 percent higher in a metropolitan area with an employment density (jobs per square mile) twice that of another metropolitan area. Since local employment density doubles nearly four times across their sample, the implied gains in ...
Working Paper
Self-Fulfilling Debt Crises, Revisited: The Art of the Desperate Deal
We revisit self-fulfilling rollover crises by introducing an alternative equilibrium selection that involves bond auctions at depressed but strictly positive equilibrium prices, a scenario in line with observed sovereign debt crises. We refer to these auctions as ?desperate deals?, the defining feature of which is a price schedule that makes the government indifferent to default or repayment. The government randomizes at the time of repayment, which we show can be implemented in pure strategies by introducing stochastic political payoffs or external bailouts. Quantitatively, auctions at ...
Working Paper
Urban density and the rate of invention
Economists, beginning with Alfred Marshall, have studied the significance of cities in the production and exploitation of information externalities that, today, we call knowledge spillovers. This paper presents robust evidence of those effects. We show that patent intensity?the per capita invention rate?is positively related to the density of employment in the highly urbanized portion of MAs. All else equal, a city with twice the employment density (jobs per square mile) of another city will exhibit a patent intensity (patents per capita) that is 20 percent higher. Patent intensity is ...
Working Paper
Spinoffs and the market for ideas
We present a theory of spinoffs in which the key ingredient is the originator?s private information concerning the quality of his new idea. Because quality is privately observed, by the standard adverse-selection logic, the market can at best offer a price that reflects the average quality of ideas sold. This gives the holders of above-average-quality ideas the incentive to spin off. We show that only workers with very good ideas decide to spin off, while workers with mediocre ideas sell them. Entrepreneurs of existing firms pay a price for the ideas sold in the market that implies zero ...
Journal Article
From cycles to shocks: progress in business-cycle theory
Boom leads to recession, recession to boom, and the economy is caught in a self-sustaining cycle. Or is it? More recent economic theory states that cyclical fluctuations in the economy are caused by shocks and other disturbances that continually buffet the economy. In this article, Satyajit Chatterjee examines the historical process by which the explanation of fluctuations in the economy has evolved from a theory of cycles to one of shocks.
Working Paper
Money and finance in a model of costly commitment
Working Paper
Insuring student loans against the financial risk of failing to complete college
Participants in student loan programs must repay loans in full regardless of whether they complete college. But many students who take out a loan do not earn a degree (the dropout rate among college students is between 33 to 50 percent). We examine whether insurance, in the form of loan forgiveness in the event of failure to complete college, can be offered, taking into account moral hazard and adverse selection. To do so, we develop a model that accounts for college enrollment and graduation rates among recent US high school graduates. In our model students may fail to earn a degree because ...