IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jetheo/v151y2014icp88-113.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Holdups and overinvestment in capital markets

Author

Listed:
  • Kurmann, André

Abstract

This paper considers a decentralized capital market characterized by trading frictions in which firms and suppliers need to make investment decisions before meeting with each other and bargaining over the price of capital. The resulting holdup problem provides firms with a strategic incentive to overaccumulate capital so as to reduce their marginal productivity and thus the bargained price. In equilibrium, this strategic incentive can outweigh the usual distortionary effects of holdup problems that on their own would lead to underinvestment, thus resulting in the economy to overinvest. In a setting with both capital and labor, the holdup problem in capital markets interacts with holdup problems in labor markets. This presents firms with a trade-off that has non-trivial equilibrium effects and that – depending on the substitutability of capital and labor and the firm's bargaining power in each market – can mitigate or exacerbate the overinvestment result.

Suggested Citation

  • Kurmann, André, 2014. "Holdups and overinvestment in capital markets," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 88-113.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jetheo:v:151:y:2014:i:c:p:88-113
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jet.2014.02.004
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022053114000222
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jet.2014.02.004?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dimitri Vayanos & Pierre‐Olivier Weill, 2008. "A Search‐Based Theory of the On‐the‐Run Phenomenon," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(3), pages 1361-1398, June.
    2. Cahuc, Pierre & Wasmer, Etienne, 2001. "Does Intrafirm Bargaining Matter In The Large Firm'S Matching Model?," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 5(5), pages 742-747, November.
    3. Gara Afonso & Ricardo Lagos, 2015. "Trade Dynamics in the Market for Federal Funds," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 83, pages 263-313, January.
    4. Ricardo J. Caballero, 2007. "Specificity and the Macroeconomics of Restructuring," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262033623, December.
    5. Darrell Duffie & Nicolae Gârleanu & Lasse Heje Pedersen, 2007. "Valuation in Over-the-Counter Markets," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 20(6), pages 1865-1900, November.
    6. Richard C. Green & Dan Li & Norman Schürhoff, 2010. "Price Discovery in Illiquid Markets: Do Financial Asset Prices Rise Faster Than They Fall?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(5), pages 1669-1702, October.
    7. Nathan Nunn, 2007. "Relationship-Specificity, Incomplete Contracts, and the Pattern of Trade," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(2), pages 569-600.
    8. repec:wop:calsdi:97-23 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Ken Binmore & Ariel Rubinstein & Asher Wolinsky, 1986. "The Nash Bargaining Solution in Economic Modelling," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 17(2), pages 176-188, Summer.
    10. Alessandro Gavazza, 2016. "An Empirical Equilibrium Model of a Decentralized Asset Market," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 84, pages 1755-1798, September.
    11. Valerie A. Ramey & Matthew D. Shapiro, 2001. "Displaced Capital: A Study of Aerospace Plant Closings," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 109(5), pages 958-992, October.
    12. Etienne Wasmer & Philippe Weil, 2004. "The Macroeconomics of Credit and Labor Markets Imperfections," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-01020132, HAL.
    13. Eric Smith, 1999. "Search, Concave Production, and Optimal Firm Size," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 2(2), pages 456-471, April.
    14. Darrell Duffie, 2012. "Over-The-Counter Markets," Introductory Chapters, in: Dark Markets: Asset Pricing and Information Transmission in Over-the-Counter Markets, Princeton University Press.
    15. Pierre Cahuc & Francois Marque & Etienne Wasmer, 2008. "A Theory Of Wages And Labor Demand With Intra-Firm Bargaining And Matching Frictions," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 49(3), pages 943-972, August.
    16. Cahuc, Pierre & Wasmer, Etienne, 2001. "Labor Market Efficiency, Wages and Employment when Search Frictions Interact with Intrafirm Bargaining," IZA Discussion Papers 304, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    17. de Meza, David & Lockwood, Ben, 2004. "Too Much Investment: A Problem of Coordination Failure," Economic Research Papers 269597, University of Warwick - Department of Economics.
    18. Grossman, Sanford J & Hart, Oliver D, 1986. "The Costs and Benefits of Ownership: A Theory of Vertical and Lateral Integration," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(4), pages 691-719, August.
    19. John R. Graham & Michael L. Lemmon & James S. Schallheim, 1998. "Debt, Leases, Taxes, and the Endogeneity of Corporate Tax Status," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 53(1), pages 131-162, February.
    20. Andre Kurmann & Nicolas Petrosky-Nadeau, 2006. "Credit Market Frictions with Costly Capital Reallocation as a Propagation Mechanism," 2006 Meeting Papers 365, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    21. Rochelle M. Edge, 2000. "Time-to-build, time-to-plan, habit-persistence, and the liquidity effect," International Finance Discussion Papers 673, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    22. Ricardo J. Caballero & Mohamad L. Hammour, 1998. "The Macroeconomics of Specificity," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 106(4), pages 724-767, August.
    23. Lagos, Ricardo & Rocheteau, Guillaume, 2008. "Money and capital as competing media of exchange," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 142(1), pages 247-258, September.
    24. Ricardo Lagos & Guillaume Rocheteau, 2009. "Liquidity in Asset Markets With Search Frictions," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 77(2), pages 403-426, March.
    25. Lawrence J. Christiano & Richard M. Todd, 1996. "Time to plan and aggregate fluctuations," Quarterly Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, vol. 20(Win), pages 14-27.
    26. Williamson, Stephen & Wright, Randall, 2010. "New Monetarist Economics: Models," Handbook of Monetary Economics, in: Benjamin M. Friedman & Michael Woodford (ed.), Handbook of Monetary Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 2, pages 25-96, Elsevier.
    27. Ricardo Lagos & Guillaume Rocheteau, 2007. "Search in Asset Markets: Market Structure, Liquidity, and Welfare," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 97(2), pages 198-202, May.
    28. Etienne Wasmer & Philippe Weil, 2004. "The Macroeconomics of Labor and Credit Market Imperfections," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(4), pages 944-963, September.
    29. Garey Ramey & Wouter J. den Haan & Joel Watson, 2000. "Job Destruction and Propagation of Shocks," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(3), pages 482-498, June.
    30. Andrea L. Eisfeldt & Adriano A. Rampini, 2009. "Leasing, Ability to Repossess, and Debt Capacity," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(4), pages 1621-1657, April.
    31. Silveira, Rafael & Wright, Randall, 2010. "Search and the market for ideas," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 145(4), pages 1550-1573, July.
    32. Stole, Lars A & Zwiebel, Jeffrey, 1996. "Organizational Design and Technology Choice under Intrafirm Bargaining," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(1), pages 195-222, March.
    33. MacLeod, W Bentley & Malcomson, James M, 1993. "Investments, Holdup, and the Form of Market Contracts," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 83(4), pages 811-837, September.
    34. Lars A. Stole & Jeffrey Zwiebel, 1996. "Intra-firm Bargaining under Non-binding Contracts," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 63(3), pages 375-410.
    35. Caballero, Ricardo J. & Hammour, Mohamad L., 1998. "Jobless growth: appropriability, factor substitution, and unemployment," Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 51-94, June.
    36. Vojislav Maksimovic & Gordon Phillips, 2001. "The Market for Corporate Assets: Who Engages in Mergers and Asset Sales and Are There Efficiency Gains?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 56(6), pages 2019-2065, December.
    37. Acemoglu, Daron & Shimer, Robert, 1999. "Holdups and Efficiency with Search Frictions," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 40(4), pages 827-849, November.
    38. Jean Tirole, 1988. "The Theory of Industrial Organization," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262200716, December.
    39. YiLi Chien & JunSang Lee, 2006. "Optimal Capital Taxation under Limited Commitment," 2006 Meeting Papers 430, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    40. Avinash K. Dixit & Robert S. Pindyck, 1994. "Investment under Uncertainty," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 5474.
    41. Asher Wolinsky, 2000. "A Theory of the Firm with Non-Binding Employment Contracts," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 68(4), pages 875-910, July.
    42. Ramey, Valerie A. & Shapiro, Matthew D., 1998. "Costly capital reallocation and the effects of government spending," Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 145-194, June.
    43. Rauch, James E., 1999. "Networks versus markets in international trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 7-35, June.
    44. Klein, Benjamin & Crawford, Robert G & Alchian, Armen A, 1978. "Vertical Integration, Appropriable Rents, and the Competitive Contracting Process," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 21(2), pages 297-326, October.
    45. Aruoba, S. Boragan & Waller, Christopher J. & Wright, Randall, 2011. "Money and capital," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(2), pages 98-116, March.
    46. Grout, Paul A, 1984. "Investment and Wages in the Absence of Binding Contracts: A Nash Bargining Approach," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 52(2), pages 449-460, March.
    47. Eisfeldt, Andrea L. & Rampini, Adriano A., 2006. "Capital reallocation and liquidity," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(3), pages 369-399, April.
    48. Giovanni Dell'Ariccia & Pietro Garibaldi, 2005. "Gross Credit Flows," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 72(3), pages 665-685.
    49. Alessandro Gavazza, 2011. "The Role of Trading Frictions in Real Asset Markets," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(4), pages 1106-1143, June.
    50. Todd C. Pulvino, 1998. "Do Asset Fire Sales Exist? An Empirical Investigation of Commercial Aircraft Transactions," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 53(3), pages 939-978, June.
    51. Arthur J. Hosios, 1990. "On The Efficiency of Matching and Related Models of Search and Unemployment," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 57(2), pages 279-298.
    52. Henry C. Simons, 1944. "Some Reflections on Syndicalism," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 52(1), pages 1-1.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Wei Cui & Randall Wright & Yu Zhu, 2022. "Endogenous Liquidity and Capital Reallocation," Staff Working Papers 22-27, Bank of Canada.
    2. Yujing Xu, 2022. "Unobservable investments, trade efficiency and search frictions," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 55(2), pages 764-799, May.
    3. Kurmann, André & Rabinovich, Stanislav, 2018. "Dynamic inefficiency in decentralized capital markets," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 231-256.
    4. Nuguer, Victoria & González Gómez, Andrés & Finkelstein-Shapiro, Alan & Roldán-Peña, Jessica, 2018. "Price Dynamics and the Financing Structure of Firms in Emerging Economies," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 9061, Inter-American Development Bank.
    5. Wright, Randall & Xiao, Sylvia Xiaolin & Zhu, Yu, 2018. "Frictional capital reallocation I: Ex ante heterogeneity," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 100-116.
    6. Yujing Xu, 2022. "Unobservable investments, trade efficiency and search frictions," Post-Print hal-03848827, HAL.
    7. Marco Airaudo & María Pía Olivero, 2019. "Optimal Monetary Policy with Countercyclical Credit Spreads," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 51(4), pages 787-829, June.
    8. Finkelstein Shapiro, Alan, 2018. "Labor force participation, interest rate shocks, and unemployment dynamics in emerging economies," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 346-374.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. André Kurmann, 2009. "Holdups and Overinvestment in Physical Capital Markets," Cahiers de recherche 0904, CIRPEE.
    2. Kurmann, André & Rabinovich, Stanislav, 2018. "Dynamic inefficiency in decentralized capital markets," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 231-256.
    3. Wright, Randall & Xiao, Sylvia Xiaolin & Zhu, Yu, 2018. "Frictional capital reallocation I: Ex ante heterogeneity," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 100-116.
    4. Bas, Maria & Carluccio, Juan, 2009. "Wage bargaining and the boundaries of the multinational firm," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 28700, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. Randall Wright & Xiaolin Xiao & Yu Zhu, 2018. "Frictional Capital Reallocation II: Ex Post Heterogeneity," 2018 Meeting Papers 544, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    6. William Hawkins, 2015. "Bargaining with Commitment Between Workers and Large Firms," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 18(2), pages 350-364, April.
    7. Dong, Feng & Wang, Pengfei & Wen, Yi, 2020. "A search-based neoclassical model of capital reallocation," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    8. Julien Hugonnier & Benjamin Lester & Pierre-Olivier Weill, 2020. "Frictional Intermediation in Over-the-Counter Markets," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 87(3), pages 1432-1469.
    9. Trejos, Alberto & Wright, Randall, 2016. "Search-based models of money and finance: An integrated approach," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 10-31.
    10. Rocheteau, Guillaume & Rodriguez-Lopez, Antonio, 2014. "Liquidity provision, interest rates, and unemployment," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 80-101.
    11. Monique Ebell & Christian Haefke, 2009. "Product Market Deregulation and the U.S. Employment Miracle," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 12(3), pages 479-504, July.
    12. Monique Ebell & Christian Haefke, 2002. "Product Market Deregulation and Labor Market Outcomes," Working Papers 02.08, Swiss National Bank, Study Center Gerzensee.
    13. Zachary Bethune & Bruno Sultanum & Nicholas Trachter, 2019. "Asset Issuance in Over-the-Counter Markets," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 33, pages 4-29, July.
    14. Ricardo Lagos & Guillaume Rocheteau, 2009. "Liquidity in Asset Markets With Search Frictions," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 77(2), pages 403-426, March.
    15. Janiak, Alexandre, 2013. "Structural unemployment and the costs of firm entry and exit," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 1-19.
    16. Stephen D. Williamson & Randall Wright, 2010. "New monetarist economics: methods," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, vol. 92(May), pages 265-302.
    17. Randall Wright & Sylvia Xiao & Yu Zhu, 2020. "Frictional Capital Reallocation with Ex Post Heterogeneity," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 37, pages 227-253, August.
    18. Tripier, Fabien, 2011. "The efficiency of training and hiring with intrafirm bargaining," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 527-538, August.
    19. Guillaume Rocheteau & Pierre‐Olivier Weill, 2011. "Liquidity in Frictional Asset Markets," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 43(s2), pages 261-282, October.
    20. Cardullo, Gabriele & Conti, Maurizio & Sulis, Giovanni, 2015. "Sunk capital, unions and the hold-up problem: Theory and evidence from cross-country sectoral data," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 253-274.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Holdup problems; Trading frictions; Bargaining; Investment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D23 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Organizational Behavior; Transaction Costs; Property Rights
    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • E22 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Investment; Capital; Intangible Capital; Capacity

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jetheo:v:151:y:2014:i:c:p:88-113. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/622869 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.