Amplification and Asymmetric Effects without Collateral Constraints

Abstract

The seminal contribution by Kiyotaki and Moore (1997) has spurred a vast literature on the importance of collateral constraints in propagating and amplifying shocks to the economy. However, most papers in the literature using collateral constraints assume non-state-contingent debt, i.e., markets are incomplete. To assess the relative importance of collateral constraints versus market incompleteness, we study a calibrated incomplete markets model and solve it with and without collateral constraints. We find that market incompleteness by itself plays a quantitatively significant role in the amplified and asymmetric responses of the economy, including land price and output, to exogenous shocks. (JEL D52, E32, E44, L26, O41)