Essays on Credit Constraints, International Trade and Local Government Budgets

Abstract

In this thesis, I analyze the consequences of financial frictions due to asymmetric information in the open economy. In a collection of three essays, I examine the effects of credit constraints on (i) firms' markups, (ii) inter-group inequality of profit-wage income, and (iii) intra-group inequality of wage income. The fourth essay, in contrast, is not concerned with credit constraints in open economies but empirically analyzes the trade exposure effects on income and spending of German municipalities.