Booms de Consumo e Inversión: El Rol del Crédito a las Firmas y de los Hábitos en el Consumo

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to provide a theoretical study about the mechanisms and channels through which both the credit taken by firms and the existence of habits in consumption, help generate and develop investment and consumption booms after a positive and transitory shock to productivity. An exogenous increase in firms’ profits sets in motion an endogenous process of sustained growth in consumption through what we call the ’wellness effect’. The rising consumption, in turn, reinforces the initial increase in profits in a dynamic feedback interaction. At the same time, the persistent growth in profits causes a fall in the cost of credit over time, which facilitates the development of the boom.