How do businessmen counteract credit constraints when the financial market does not provide adequate external financing? Based on novel primary corporate data, network techniques and regression analysis, we explore the role of interlocking directorates with banks as a way for companies to face...

This is the last version available of this document. One of the salient features of Chile as compared to other economies in the region is the outstanding pattern of economic growth the country experienced during the last two decades. From 1990 to 2005 Chile's GDP expanded at an annual average...

We provide international empirical evidence that periods of rapid expansion in credit — credit booms — lead to a tradeoff between a relaxation of financial constraints and a worsening of capital allocation. This tradeoff is stronger across small, financially constrained, and more innovative...

This paper examines the effects of renovating deteriorated public spaces on local socioeconomic outcomes. We analyze the impacts of a randomized experiment implemented in 28 fragile neighborhoods of Santiago, Chile. Our findings indicate that the renovation of local squares led to increased use...

Productivity differentials have been documented as the main determinant of the variation of income per capita across countries. In this paper, we investigate whether the implementation of innovation-intensive or adoption-intensive business strategies by firms can explain differences in...

We show that the introduction of a new asset affects the prices of previously existing assets in a market. Using data from 254 IPOs in emerging markets, we find that stocks in industries that covary highly with the industry of the IPO experience a larger decline in prices relative to other...

"This paper presents new data from 150 countries showing that former cabinet members, central bank governors, and financial regulators are many orders of magnitude more likely than other citizens to become board members of banks. Countries where the politician-banker phenomenon is more prevalent...

This paper presents new data from 150 countries showing that former cabinet members, central bank governors, and financial regulators are many orders of magnitude more likely than other citizens to become board members of banks. Countries where the politician-banker phenomenon is more prevalent...