Microfinance has been heralded as an effective way to address imperfections in credit markets. From a theoretical perspective, however, the success of microfinance contracts has puzzling elements. In particular, the group-based mechanisms often employed are vulnerable to free-riding and collusion, although they can also reduce moral hazard and improve selection. We created an experimental econo...

We construct an intertemporal model of rent-maximizing behaviour on the part of a timber harvester under potentially multi-dimensional risk as well as geographical heterogeneity. Subsequently, we use recursive methods (in particular, the method of dynamic programming) to characterize the optimal policy function, the rent-maximizing timber-harvesting profile. One noteworthy feature of our applic...

Using the tools of real-options theory, Farzin, Huisman and Kort (1998) investigate the optimal timing of technology adoption in a model in which there is ongoing technological progress and the "rm's investment decision is irreversible. When the "rm can switch technologies n(R times, Farzin et al. (1998) obtain the surprising result that the criterion for adopting a new technology derived from ...

We study the dynamic investment and reporting problem of a financial institution subject to capital requirements based on self-reported VaR estimates, as in the Basel Committee’s Internal Models Approach (IMA). With constant price coefficients, we show that optimal portfolios display a local three-fund separation property. VaR-based capital requirements induce financial institutions to tilt the...

This paper assesses quantitatively the impact of legal institutions on entrepreneurial firm dynamics. Owners choose firm size, financial structure and default to manage risk. We find: (i) Less risk averse entrepreneurs run bigger firms and it is optimal for them to incorporate, while more risk averse entrepreneurs run smaller firms and generally are better off remaining unincorporated. (ii) Mor...

In this paper we examine an optimal investment policy of the firm that is financed by issuing equity and debt. Recently, a number of researchers have studied the interaction among firm’s investment and financing decisions under uncertainty by means of real option framework. In the literature, investment problems for a firm with growth options, that is financed with equity and debt are investiga...

We study the combined effects of uncertainty and competition on the timing optimization of investments in complementarity inputs for non-preemption duopoly (leader-follower) markets with either a weakpatent system where spillover-knowledge is allowed or a strong-patent system where proprietaryknowledge holds. We find that, for some input-sequencing investment scenarios, ex-ante and (expected) e...

A recent literature suggests that because investment expenditures are irreversible and can be delayed, they may be highly sensitive to uncertainty. We briefly summarize the theory, stressing its empirical implications. We then use cross-section and time-series data for a set of developing and industrialized countries to explore the relevance of the theory for aggregate investment. We find that ...

Firms with private information about the outcomes of production under uncertainty may face capital (liquidity) constraints that prevent them from attaining efficient levels of investment in a world with costly and/or imperfect monitoring. As an alternative, we examine the efficiency of a simple pooling scheme designed to provide a public (cooperative) supply of liquidity that results in the fir...

The paper develops a model in which both long–run growth rates and credit market development are endogenous. Agents facing idiosyncratic productivity shocks cannot perfectly commit to repay their loans, but the threat of credit market exclusion specifies endogenous debt limits preventing default in equilibrium. A growth push makes credit market participation more valuable and relaxes debt limit...