Research Category

Macroeconomics (theory)

Area of Interest

Collateral constraint and business cycles, financial crises, changing industrial structure and income disparity

Recent Thoughts

1. The Self-Referential Nature of Economic Systems

In the actual economy one often witnesses situations where a corporation’s stocks are held by another corporation (through a financial institution). This can be conceptualized as an example of self-referentiality (i.e., one business possessing another business). In an economy where corporate stocks function as collateral for loans of working capital, interesting phenomena develop, such as corporations with self-owning structures or an equilibrium that exhibits unlimited continuity.

2. The Effects of Stock Variables on Flow Variables

I am interested in the phenomenon wherein bad debt (a stock variable) has a negative effect on production (a flow variable). A change of industrial structure (from manufacturing to service-based industry) can also be referred to as a change in a stock variable, but I am currently wondering whether such change might increase dispersion of wage earnings (a flow variable).

Publications

• Kobayashi, Keiichiro, “Payment uncertainty, the Division of Labor, and Productivity Declines in Great Depressions.” Review of Economic Dynamics, Vol. 9, No. 4, pp. 715—741, October, 2006.
• Kobayashi, Keiichiro, "Forbearance Impedes Confidence Recovery," Journal of Macroeconomics (2007) 29(1): 178-188.
• Kobayashi, Keiichiro, and Masaru Inaba, "Business Cycle Accounting for the Japanese Economy," Japan and the World Economy (2006) 18(4): 418-440.

Recent/Ongoing Works

• Kobayashi, Keiichiro. (2007). ``Payment Uncertainty and the Productivity Slowdown.’’ Macroeconomic Dynamics. April 2007; 11(2): 231-48.
• Kobayashi, Keiichiro, Kengo Nutahara (2007). ``Collateralized capital and news-driven cycles.’’ Economics Bulletin, vol. 5(18), pages 1-9.
• Kobayashi, Keiichiro, and Masaru Inaba, “Debt-Ridden Equilibria – A simple theory of Great Depressions,”RIETI Discussion Paper Series 07-E-035.

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