We document the cyclical properties of US firms' financial flows and show that equity payout is procyclical and debt payout is countercyclical. We then develop a model with debt and equity financing to explore how the dynamics of real and financial variables are affected by "financial shocks."...

In this paper we study how credit shocks, that is, shocks affecting the ability to raise external funds for borrowers, affect macroeconomic fluctuations. A positive credit shock leads to a typical macroeconomic boom, with an expansion in consumption, investment, labor, output and productivity....

analysis shows that innovations that have allowed firms to issue equity more flexibly can plausibly account for the lower output volatility together with the higher volatility in the financial structure of firms.

The volatility of US business cycle has declined during the last two decades. During the same period the financial structure of firms has become more volatile. In this paper we develop a model in which financial factors play a key role in generating economic fluctuations. Innovations in...

In this paper we document the cyclical properties of U.S. firms' financial flows. Equity payouts are procyclical and debt payouts are countercyclical. We develop a model with explicit roles for debt and equity financing and explore how the observed dynamics of real and financial variables are...

The volatility of US business cycles has declined during the last two decades. During the same period the financial structure of firms has become more volatile. In this paper we develop a model in which financial factors are central for generating economic fluctuations. Innovations in financial...