Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/127383 
Year of Publication: 
2014
Series/Report no.: 
Discussion Paper Series No. 567
Publisher: 
University of Heidelberg, Department of Economics, Heidelberg
Abstract: 
We develop a parsimonious model of bubbles based on the assumption of imprecisely known market depth. In a speculative bubble, traders drive the price above its fundamental value in a dynamic way, driven by rational expectations about future price developments. At a previously unknown date, the bubble will endogenously burst. We provide a general condition for the possibility of bubbles depending on the risk-free rate, uncertainty about market depth, and traders’ degree of leverage. This allows us to discuss several policy measures. Bubbles always reduce aggregate welfare. Among others, certain monetary policy rules, minimum leverage ratios, and a correctly implemented Tobin tax can prevent their occurrence. Implemented incorrectly, however, some of these measures backfire and facilitate bubbles.
Subjects: 
Bubbles
Rational Expectations
Market Depth
Liquidity
Financial Crises
Leveraged Investment
Bonuses
Capital Structure
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
601.22 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.