We show that debt is sustainable at a competitive equilibrium based solely on the reputation for repayment; that is, even without collateral or legal sanctions available to creditors. In an incomplete asset market, when the rate of interest falls recurrently below the rate of growth of the...

This paper studies two player stopping games in a discrete time multiple prior framework with a finite time horizon. Optimal stopping times as well as recursive formulas for the value processes of the games are derived. These results are used to characterize the set of no-arbitrage prices for a...

We show that sovereign debt is unsustainable if debt contracts are not supported by direct sanctions and default carries only a ban from ever borrowing in financial markets even in the presence of uninsurable risks and time-varying interest rate. This extension of Bulow and Rogoff, 1989 requires...