Many applications call for measuring the response due to shocks from several variables at once. We introduce a joint impulse response function (jIRF) that is independent of the order of the variables and allows for simultaneous shocks from multiple variables in the VAR rather than one at a time...

Why do some firms enter a new market by acquiring an existing company operating in this market (external entry), while more than 90% of firms do so by building on their existing resources (internal entry)? This paper shows that human capital acquisition is a key motive behind firms' decision to...

This paper explores how financing frictions shape the formation of a customer base. Since a customer base cannot be pledged as collateral, current expenses involved in attracting customers are likely to be financed internally. Hence, liquidity-constrained firms will underinvest in the expansion...

Why do some firms enter a new sector by acquiring an existing company ("buy"), while others do so using their existing resources ("build")? Using a novel dataset constructed by merging French employer payrolls with commercial M&A datasets, we show that firms are more likely to buy when their...