Mortgage refinancing activity associated with extraction of home equity contains a strongly counter-cyclical component consistent with household demand for liquidity. We estimate a structural model of liquidity management featuring counter-cyclical idiosyncratic labor income uncertainty, both...

We develop a directed technical change model with two sectors, tradable and non-tradable, and dynamic firms' decisions to invest in R&D in the presence of financial constraints. The model establishes a linkage between R&D decisions, product and process innovations, future productivity, profits,...

This paper investigates how financial constraints affect a firm's decision on whether to conduct product innovation. Theoretically, we show that a firm's optimal decision on product innovation is a function of its past decision, financial constraints and a set of control variables. Through...

Increasing healthcare costs are a big concern for the well-being of liquidity-constrained households. This paper evaluates the effect of binding liquidity constraints on healthcare spending decisions. Further, the paper compares the effect of liquidity constraints on healthcare expenditure with...

We document that the interest rate response to fiscal stimulus (IRRF) is lower in countries with high inequality or high household debt. To interpret this evidence we develop a model in which households take on debt to maintain a consumption threshold (saving constraint). Now debt-burdened,...

We study what type of entrepreneurs are affected by financial constraints. Our identification strategy exploits age-based discontinuities in the amount of funding available through a public program for unemployed workers. We find that access to funding increases the rate of entrepreneurship. The...

Financial constraint is a major obstacle for firm growth, especially in developing countries where credit is scarce. This paper explores the role of tax policy in relaxing firms' financial constraints by exploiting the exogenous shocks from China's value-added tax (VAT) reform in 2009. We find...

We investigate the relationship between the intensity of share pledging activities and the level of financial constraint. Using a sample of Chinese publicly listed firms from 2003 to 2018, our main findings are fourfold. First, we document that the high financial constraint level may motivate...

We review the literature on financial constraints and the performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). We consider the important role that SMEs play in the economies of Australia and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. We examine the role of financial constraints in...