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Reputation with multiple relationships: reviving reputation models of debt


Abstract: A traditional explanation for why sovereign governments repay debts is that they want to keep a good reputation so they can easily borrow more. Bulow and Rogoff have challenged this explanation. They argue that, in complete information models, government borrowing requires direct legal sanctions. We argue that, in incomplete information models with multiple trust relationships, large amounts of government borrowing can be supported by reputation alone.

Keywords: Debt;

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Provider: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis

Part of Series: Staff Report

Publication Date: 1991

Number: 137