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Government Bailout Funds: Balancing Rules and Discretion

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  • MARK GRADSTEIN

Abstract

This paper studies government bailout design in the face of economic failures by multiple firms, with ensuing threats to economic stability. Assuming that a commitment to a bailout magnitude is possible, yet cannot be made contingent on unforeseen circumstances, it is argued that the optimal policy consists of stipulating a bailout fund whose upper limit cannot be exceeded. Such an equilibrium policy provides a balance between flexibility to adjust to future circumstances and restraint of moral hazard incentive faced by the firms. An extension to the baseline model considers the case where corporate interests, divergent from those of the public, play a role, and the cap on bailout spending matters for the bargaining outcome between those interests.

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  • Mark Gradstein, 2022. "Government Bailout Funds: Balancing Rules and Discretion," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 54(1), pages 333-342, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:jmoncb:v:54:y:2022:i:1:p:333-342
    DOI: 10.1111/jmcb.12788
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    4. Gradstein, Mark & Kaganovich, Michael, 2019. "Legislative restraints in corporate bailout design," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 337-350.
    5. Lohmann, Susanne, 1992. "Optimal Commitment in Monetary Policy: Credibility versus Flexibility," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 82(1), pages 273-286, March.
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    8. Kydland, Finn E & Prescott, Edward C, 1977. "Rules Rather Than Discretion: The Inconsistency of Optimal Plans," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 85(3), pages 473-491, June.
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