This paper develops a theoretical model in which firms may choose multiple banking relationships to reduce the risk that financing will be denied by ‘relationship banks’ should the latter experience liquidity problems and refuse to roll over lines of credit. The inability to refinance from...

Banking crises are usually followed by a decline in credit and growth. Is this because crises tend to take place during economic downturns, or do banking sector problems have independent negative effects on the economy? To answer this question we examine industrial sectors with differing needs...

This paper analyses the empirical interdependence of asset returns, real activity and inflation from a multicountry and international point of view. We find that nominal stock returns are significantly related to inflation only in the United States, that the US term structure of interest rates...

This paper examines the relationship between the equity premium and the risk free rate at three different maturities using post-1973 data for a panel of seven OECD countries. We show the existence of subsample instabilities, of some cross country differences and of inconsistencies with the...

This paper examines the question of which shock generates cyclical movements in output and inflation using an alternative approach. We find that in the G-7 countries output cycles are driven by different structural disturbances, that monetary disturbances play a significant role in at least four...