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Review of Economic Studies Vol. 82 No. 3 2015

Credit Markets, Limited Commitment, and Government Debt

Francesca Carapella1,2; Stephen D. Williamson3,4

1 Federal Reserve · 2 Federal Reserve Board of Governors · 3 Washington University in St. Louis · 4 Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Abstract

A dynamic model with credit under limited commitment is constructed, in which limited memory can weaken the effects of punishment for default. This creates an endogenous role for government debt in credit markets, and the economy can be non-Ricardian. Default can occur in equilibrium, and government debt essentially plays a role as collateral and thus improves borrowers' incentives. The provision of government debt acts to discourage default, whether default occurs in equilibrium or not.

DOI
10.1093/restud/rdv006
Volume
82
Issue
3
Pages
963-990
Language
en
Sources
bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

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