DP13795 Kinks and Gains from Credit Cycles

Author(s):	Henrik Jensen, Søren Hove Ravn, Emiliano Santoro
Publication Date:	June 2019
Keyword(s):	Collateral constraints, Cost of business cycles, precautionary saving
JEL(s):	E20, E32, E66
Programme Areas:	Monetary Economics and Fluctuations
Link to this Page:	cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=13795

Credit-market imperfections are at the centre stage of several theories of business fluctuations. Since a lot of research seeks to address the welfare consequences of stabilization policies, we revisit the fundamental question of quantifying the cost of business cycles in a model where household borrowing is subject to a collateral constraint. Business cycles occasionally change the credit-market conditions, making households temporarily unconstrained and better off. This effect can dominate the conventional losses from uncertainty, thus making fluctuations welfare-dominate certainty.