The Great Recession of 2008 offers a primary example of the important role that fluctuations in credit risk play in the aggregate economy. In this paper we explore this link with a tractable general equilibrium asset pricing model with heterogeneous firms. Our model produces realistic movements...

A standard assumption of structural models of default is that firms' assets evolve exogenously. In this paper, we examine the importance of accounting for investment options in models of credit risk. In the presence of financing and investment frictions, fi rm-level variables that proxy for...

The surge in public debt triggered by the financial crisis has raised uncertainty about future tax pressure and economic activity. We examine the asset pricing effects of fiscal policies in a production-based general equilibrium model in which taxation affects corporate decisions by: i)...