This paper addresses the "rate of return" puzzle of monetary theory. Similarly to the legal restrictions theory of the demand for money, we assume that Government bonds are subject to a minimum purchase requirement. Differently from this theory, however, we assume that intermediaries, when...

Changes in formal and informal central bank independence (CBI) in France, Italy and the UK in the period from the mid-1970s to the 1990s are examined; the major changes occurred in the 1990s, after the disinflations of the 1980s. Broad trends in the informal independence of central banks, defined...

The paper studies the motivations behind banks' shareholding of non-financial firms using a panel of large Italian companies in the period 1994-2000. Empirical evidence shows that banks are shareholders of companies that are less profitable, have experienced slower growth, are more indebted and...

The paper investigates the reaction of the Federal Reserve to developments in the stock market. The issue is analyzed by first constructing an Index of Stock Price Misalignement in which the fundamental value of the stocks is computed on the basis of the discounted cash flow approach and by then...

This paper shows that, in a pure currency economy with heterogeneous agents and multiple commodities, a pecuniary externality plays a key role in making the equilibrium allocation constrained inefficient. Monetary policy intervention can help improve matters

This paper presents a model where societies whose population expands, experience advances in specialization at the cost of diluted monitoring, which limits enforcement and hinders trade possibilities. Cash and private circulating instruments can replace monitoring. Advances in specialization may...

A long standing issue in monetary theory is whether money and interest bearing debt may both play a beneficial role in facilitating transactions. This paper identifies in the misallocation of liquidity a key element to provide an answer. In a search model of money, we show that there exists an...

We propose a model in which money performs an essential role in the process of exchange, despite the presence of a multilateral clearing house. Agents are assumed to be anonymous and unable to make binding commitments. The clearing house can detect deviations but it cannot identify the...

This paper presents a model economy with endogenous credit constraints and endogenous growth, in which agents face a trade-off between investing resources to improve the pledgeability of collateral assets and the accumulation of human capital. The model generates both growth miracles and...

We examine a theoretical model of liquidity with three assets - money, government bonds and equity - that are used for transaction purposes. Money and bonds complement each other in the payment system. The liquidity of equity is derived as an equilibrium outcome. Liquidity cycles arise from the...