Robert M. Townsend

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

77 Massachusetts Avenue

50 Memorial Drive

Cambridge, MA 02139-4307

United States

  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

SCHOLARLY PAPERS

34

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6,188

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503

CROSSREF CITATIONS

74

Scholarly Papers (34)

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1.

Barriers to Household Risk Management: Evidence from India

Downloads 1,665 (18,840)
Citation 117

Barriers to Household Risk Management: Evidence from India

American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 5(1), 104-35, Harvard Business School Finance Working Paper No. 09-116, FRB of New York Staff Report No. 373
Number of pages: 55 Posted: 09 Apr 2009 Last Revised: 22 Jan 2013
Shawn Allen Cole, Xavier Giné, Jeremy Tobacman, Robert M. Townsend, Petia B. Topalova and James I. Vickery
Harvard Business School, World Bank - Development Research Group (DECRG), Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics, University of Delaware, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
Downloads 1,477 (22,234)
Citation 86

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Insurance, Household Finance, Trust, Liquidity Constraints, Financial Literacy, Economic Development

Barriers to Household Risk Management: Evidence from India

World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 5504
Number of pages: 40 Posted: 20 Apr 2016
Shawn Allen Cole, Xavier Giné, Jeremy Tobacman, Petia B. Topalova, Robert M. Townsend and James I. Vickery
Harvard Business School, World Bank - Development Research Group (DECRG), Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics, University of Delaware, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
Downloads 134 (366,350)
Citation 1

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Financial Literacy, Debt Markets, Access to Finance, Emerging Markets, Labor Policies

Barriers to Household Risk Management: Evidence from India

IMF Working Paper No. 12/195
Number of pages: 44 Posted: 01 Nov 2012
Shawn Allen Cole, Xavier Giné, Jeremy Tobacman, Petia B. Topalova, Robert M. Townsend and James I. Vickery
Harvard Business School, World Bank - Development Research Group (DECRG), Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics, University of Delaware, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
Downloads 54 (651,444)
Citation 2

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Household Finance, Trust, Liquidity Constraints, Household Credit, Risk Management

2.

Microinsurance: A Case Study of the Indian Rainfall Index Insurance Market

World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 5459
Number of pages: 49 Posted: 20 Apr 2016
Xavier Giné, Lev Menand, Robert M. Townsend and James I. Vickery
World Bank - Development Research Group (DECRG), Columbia Law School, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
Downloads 801 (54,203)
Citation 1

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Climate Change Economics, Insurance Law, Debt Markets, Financial Literacy, Insurance & Risk Mitigation

3.

Optimal Design of Tokenized Markets

Number of pages: 30 Posted: 07 Apr 2021 Last Revised: 21 Sep 2022
Michael Lee, Antoine Martin and Robert M. Townsend
Federal Reserve Banks - Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Federal Reserve Bank of New York - Research and Statistics and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Downloads 692 (65,791)

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token system, security tokenization, settlement uncertainty, market design

4.

Internal Capital Markets in Business Groups and the Propagation of Credit Supply Shocks

IMF Working Paper No. 19/111
Number of pages: 40 Posted: 18 Jun 2019
Yu Shi, Robert M. Townsend and Wu Zhu
International Monetary Fund (IMF), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University
Downloads 364 (142,748)

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Interest rate ceilings, Supply and demand, Credit demand, Credit, Bank credit, Internal capital markets, business groups, bank lending, China, corporate shareholder, business group, equity share, leverage ratio, credit market

5.

Optimal Credit Scores Under Adverse Selection

Number of pages: 33 Posted: 20 May 2022
Nicole Immorlica, Andre Sztutman and Robert M. Townsend
Microsoft Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Downloads 344 (151,763)

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information design, applied machine learning, credit scores, rural credit markets

6.

Resource Allocation in Bank Supervision: Trade-offs and Outcomes

Downloads 329 (159,200)
Citation 22

Resource Allocation in Bank Supervision: Trade-offs and Outcomes

FRB of NY Staff Report No. 769
Number of pages: 74 Posted: 21 Mar 2016 Last Revised: 17 May 2021
Thomas M. Eisenbach, David O. Lucca and Robert M. Townsend
Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Federal Reserve Banks - Federal Reserve Bank of New York and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Downloads 273 (192,418)
Citation 6

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bank supervision, bank regulation, monitoring, time use

The Economics of Bank Supervision

NBER Working Paper No. w22201
Number of pages: 58 Posted: 02 May 2016 Last Revised: 01 Mar 2023
Thomas M. Eisenbach, David O. Lucca and Robert M. Townsend
Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Federal Reserve Banks - Federal Reserve Bank of New York and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Downloads 56 (640,151)
Citation 3

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7.

Rise of Bank Competition: Evidence from Banking Deregulation in China

Downloads 78 (183,814)
Citation 10

Rise of Bank Competition: Evidence from Banking Deregulation in China

NBER Working Paper No. w25795
Number of pages: 68 Posted: 07 May 2019 Last Revised: 17 Mar 2023
Haoyu Gao, Hong Ru, Robert M. Townsend and Xiaoguang Yang
Renmin University of China, Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) - Academy of Mathematics and Systems Science (AMSS)
Downloads 78 (534,487)
Citation 2

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Rise of Bank Competition: Evidence from Banking Deregulation in China

Posted: 15 Dec 2017 Last Revised: 25 Dec 2019
Haoyu Gao, Hong Ru, Robert M. Townsend and Xiaoguang Yang
Renmin University of China, Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) - Academy of Mathematics and Systems Science (AMSS)

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Banking Deregulation, Credit Misallocation, Big Data, Growth

8.

Dynamic Bank Expansion: Spatial Growth, Financial Access, and Inequality

Downloads 221 (237,801)
Citation 3

Dynamic Bank Expansion: Spatial Growth, Financial Access, and Inequality

HKUST Business School Research Paper No. 2021-009 (also appears in Emerging Finance and Financial Practices eJournal)
Number of pages: 61 Posted: 09 Mar 2021 Last Revised: 03 Oct 2023
Yan Ji, Songyuan Teng and Robert M. Townsend
Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (HKUST), Yale University, Department of Economics, Students and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Downloads 180 (286,011)
Citation 1

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financial inclusion, spatial equilibrium, regional heterogeneity, growth and inequality, transitional dynamics

Dynamic Bank Expansion: Spatial Growth, Financial Access, and Inequality

NBER Working Paper No. w28582
Number of pages: 62 Posted: 22 Mar 2021 Last Revised: 05 Feb 2023
Yan Ji, Songyuan Teng and Robert M. Townsend
Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (HKUST), Yale University, Department of Economics, Students and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Downloads 41 (735,259)

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9.

Distinguishing Constraints on Financial Inclusion and Their Impact on GDP, TFP, and the Distribution of Income

Downloads 163 (311,829)
Citation 9

Distinguishing Constraints on Financial Inclusion and Their Impact on GDP, TFP, and the Distribution of Income

Journal of Monetary Economics, Forthcoming
Number of pages: 42 Posted: 07 Dec 2019 Last Revised: 04 Feb 2020
Era Dabla-Norris, Yan Ji, Robert M. Townsend and D. Filiz Unsal
International Monetary Fund (IMF), Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (HKUST), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) - Research Department
Downloads 122 (393,875)
Citation 1

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Financial Frictions, Occupational Choice, Income Distribution, Welfare, Transitional Dynamics

Distinguishing Constraints on Financial Inclusion and Their Impact on GDP, TFP, and the Distribution of Income

NBER Working Paper No. w20821
Number of pages: 70 Posted: 12 Jan 2015 Last Revised: 24 May 2023
Era Dabla-Norris, Yan Ji, Robert M. Townsend and D. Filiz Unsal
International Monetary Fund (IMF), Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (HKUST), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) - Research Department
Downloads 41 (735,259)
Citation 8

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Distinguishing Constraints on Financial Inclusion and Their Impact on GDP and Inequality

CEPR Discussion Paper No. DP11742
Number of pages: 66 Posted: 09 Jan 2017
Era Dabla-Norris, Yan Ji, Robert M. Townsend and D. Filiz Unsal
International Monetary Fund (IMF), Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (HKUST), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) - Research Department
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10.

Identifying Constraints to Financial Inclusion and Their Impact on GDP and Inequality: A Structural Framework for Policy

IMF Working Paper No. 15/22
Number of pages: 50 Posted: 23 Feb 2015
Era Dabla-Norris, Yan Ji, D. Filiz Unsal and Robert M. Townsend
International Monetary Fund (IMF), Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (HKUST), International Monetary Fund (IMF) - Research Department and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Downloads 159 (318,510)

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Financial services, Income inequality, Gross domestic product, Income distribution, Low-income developing countries, Emerging markets, General equilibrium models, Financial inclusion, hetergenous agents., credit, gdp, wealth, costs, economy, savings, choice, capital, utility, development, interest, moral hazard, production, wages, consumption, investment, interest rate, asymmetric information, interest rates, gdp per capita, financial sector, welfare, trade, utility function, economic growth, regression analysis, distribution of wealth, variables, total factor productivity, inefficiency, macroeconomic analyses, diminishing returns to scale, m2, production function, expected utility, risk neu

11.

Rent-Seeking Platforms

FRB of New York Staff Report No. 892
Number of pages: 46 Posted: 21 Jul 2019 Last Revised: 07 Sep 2021
Rodney Garratt, Michael Lee, Antoine Martin and Robert M. Townsend
University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), Federal Reserve Banks - Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Federal Reserve Bank of New York - Research and Statistics and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Downloads 142 (349,381)
Citation 2

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inter-dealer markets, liquidity, information design, platforms

12.

Curbing Shocks to Corporate Liquidity: The Role of Trade Credit

Downloads 140 (353,237)
Citation 16

Curbing Shocks to Corporate Liquidity: The Role of Trade Credit

Riksbank Research Paper Series No. 144, Sveriges Riksbank Working Paper Series No. 320
Number of pages: 47 Posted: 04 Jun 2016
Niklas Amberg, Tor Jacobson, Erik von Schedvin and Robert M. Townsend
Stockholm School of Economics, Sveriges Riksbank - Research Division, Sveriges Riksbank and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Downloads 77 (538,697)

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Liquidity management, Trade credit, Risk sharing

Curbing Shocks to Corporate Liquidity: The Role of Trade Credit

NBER Working Paper No. w22286
Number of pages: 51 Posted: 01 Jun 2016 Last Revised: 25 May 2023
Niklas Amberg, Tor Jacobson, Erik von Schedvin and Robert M. Townsend
Stockholm School of Economics, Sveriges Riksbank - Research Division, Sveriges Riksbank and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Downloads 63 (602,584)
Citation 17

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13.

Tiered Intermediation in Business Groups

Number of pages: 47 Posted: 11 Jan 2021 Last Revised: 07 Mar 2023
Yu Shi, Robert M. Townsend and Wu Zhu
International Monetary Fund (IMF), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University
Downloads 120 (397,106)

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Tiered Intermediation, Business Groups, Equity Investment, Investment, Bank Credit Shock

14.

Zero Settlement Risk Token Systems

Number of pages: 29 Posted: 07 Apr 2021 Last Revised: 21 Sep 2022
Michael Lee, Antoine Martin and Robert M. Townsend
Federal Reserve Banks - Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Federal Reserve Bank of New York - Research and Statistics and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Downloads 114 (412,285)

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token system, instant settlement, financial architecture

15.

Risk and Return in Village Economies

NBER Working Paper No. w19738
Number of pages: 64 Posted: 20 Dec 2013 Last Revised: 08 Jun 2023
Krislert Samphantharak and Robert M. Townsend
University of California, San Diego - School of Global Policy and Strategy and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Downloads 96 (465,064)
Citation 3

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16.

Kinship Networks Enhanced by a Formal Financial Intervention: Costly State Verification and the Thai Village Fund

Nanyang Business School Research Paper No. 20-17
Number of pages: 38 Posted: 05 Sep 2020 Last Revised: 08 Jan 2022
Hong Ru and Robert M. Townsend
Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Downloads 92 (478,098)

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Informal Network, Village Fund, Regime Shift, Costly State Verification

17.

Internet Appendix for 'Dynamic Bank Expansion: Spatial Growth, Financial Access, and Inequality'

HKUST Business School Research Paper No. 2021-010
Number of pages: 129 Posted: 22 Mar 2021 Last Revised: 08 Nov 2022
Yan Ji, Songyuan Teng and Robert M. Townsend
Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (HKUST), Yale University, Department of Economics, Students and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Downloads 87 (494,931)

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financial inclusion, spatial equilibrium, regional heterogeneity, growth and inequality, transitional dynamics

18.

A Market Based Solution to Price Externalities: A Generalized Framework

NBER Working Paper No. w20275
Number of pages: 66 Posted: 08 Jul 2014 Last Revised: 27 May 2023
Weerachart Kilenthong and Robert M. Townsend
University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Downloads 83 (509,322)
Citation 1

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19.

Supplement to 'Distinguishing Constraints on Financial Inclusion and Their Impact on GDP, TFP, and The Distribution of Income'

Journal of Monetary Economics, Forthcoming
Number of pages: 33 Posted: 29 Jan 2020
Era Dabla-Norris, Yan Ji, Robert M. Townsend and D. Filiz Unsal
International Monetary Fund (IMF), Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (HKUST), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) - Research Department
Downloads 79 (524,483)

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Financial Frictions, Occupational Choice, Income Distribution, Welfare, Transitional Dynamics

20.

Heterogeneity and Risk Sharing in Village Economies

NBER Working Paper No. w16696
Number of pages: 53 Posted: 18 Jan 2011 Last Revised: 13 Feb 2023
Pierre-Andre Chiappori, Krislert Samphantharak, Sam Schulhofer-Wohl and Robert M. Townsend
Columbia University - Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Department of Economics, University of California, San Diego - School of Global Policy and Strategy, Federal Reserve Banks - Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Downloads 64 (588,395)
Citation 19

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21.

The Economics of Platforms in a Walrasian Framework

International Finance Discussion Paper No. 1280
Number of pages: 63 Posted: 15 Jun 2020
Anil Jain and Robert M. Townsend
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Downloads 50 (661,285)

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First and second welfare theorems, two-sided markets, Externalities

22.

A Market Based Solution for Fire Sales and Other Pecuniary Externalities

NBER Working Paper No. w22056
Number of pages: 75 Posted: 07 Mar 2016 Last Revised: 08 Apr 2023
Weerachart Kilenthong and Robert M. Townsend
University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Downloads 49 (667,031)
Citation 3

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23.

Liquidity Constraints, Kinship Networks, and the Financing of Household Investment

Number of pages: 34 Posted: 08 May 2012
Krislert Samphantharak and Robert M. Townsend
University of California, San Diego - School of Global Policy and Strategy and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Downloads 47 (678,977)

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Investment-cash flow sensitivity, financial constraint, liquidity, household investment, networks

24.

Dynamic Financial Constraints: Distinguishing Mechanism Design from Exogenously Incomplete Regimes

NBER Working Paper No. w19617
Number of pages: 66 Posted: 09 Nov 2013 Last Revised: 06 Feb 2023
Alexander Karaivanov and Robert M. Townsend
Simon Fraser University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Downloads 34 (767,049)
Citation 10

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25.

Economic Development, Flow of Funds and the Equilibrium Interaction of Financial Frictions

NBER Working Paper No. w19618
Number of pages: 53 Posted: 09 Nov 2013 Last Revised: 08 Feb 2023
Benjamin Moll, Robert M. Townsend and Victor Zhorin
Princeton University - Department of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Computation Institute
Downloads 34 (767,049)
Citation 5

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26.

Demand and Reimbursement Effects of Healthcare Reform: Health Care Utilization and Infant Mortality in Thailand

NBER Working Paper No. w17739
Number of pages: 33 Posted: 14 Jan 2012 Last Revised: 22 Jun 2023
Jonathan Gruber, Nathaniel Hendren and Robert M. Townsend
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Department of Economics, Harvard University - Department of Economics and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Downloads 32 (782,221)
Citation 1

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27.

Integrated Household Surveys: An Assessment of U.S. Methods and an Innovation

FRB of Boston Working Paper No. 17-7
Number of pages: 65 Posted: 29 Sep 2017
Krislert Samphantharak, Scott D. Schuh and Robert M. Townsend
University of California, San Diego - School of Global Policy and Strategy, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston - Research Department and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Downloads 31 (790,164)
Citation 1

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surveys, diaries, payments, financial statements, cash flows

28.

From Micro to Macro Development

Downloads 25 (839,618)
Citation 3

From Micro to Macro Development

NBER Working Paper No. w28423
Number of pages: 56 Posted: 08 Feb 2021 Last Revised: 10 Jul 2023
Francisco J. Buera, Joseph P. Kaboski and Robert M. Townsend
Washington University in St. Louis, Ohio State University (OSU) - Economics and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Downloads 25 (865,772)
Citation 3

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From Micro to Macro Development

CEPR Discussion Paper No. DP15775
Number of pages: 48 Posted: 11 Feb 2021 Last Revised: 29 Mar 2022
Francisco J. Buera, Joseph P. Kaboski and Robert M. Townsend
Washington University in St. Louis, Ohio State University (OSU) - Economics and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
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STEG

29.

Segregated Security Exchanges with Ex Ante Rights to Trade: A Market-Based Solution to Collateral-Constrained Externalities

NBER Working Paper No. w20086
Number of pages: 88 Posted: 06 May 2014 Last Revised: 21 May 2023
Weerachart Kilenthong and Robert M. Townsend
University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Downloads 23 (857,307)

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30.

Propagation and Insurance in Village Networks

NBER Working Paper No. w28089
Number of pages: 43 Posted: 16 Nov 2020 Last Revised: 02 Apr 2023
Cynthia Kinnan, Krislert Samphantharak, Robert M. Townsend and Diego Vera Cossio
Northwestern University - Department of Economics, University of California, San Diego - School of Global Policy and Strategy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Inter-American Development Bank
Downloads 17 (914,244)

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31.

Financial Centrality and Liquidity Provision

NBER Working Paper No. w24406
Number of pages: 51 Posted: 20 Mar 2018 Last Revised: 10 Mar 2023
Arun G. Chandrasekhar, Robert M. Townsend and Juan Pablo Xandri
Stanford University - Department of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Princeton University
Downloads 10 (982,617)

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32.

Liquidity, Financial Centrality, and the Value of Key Players

NBER Working Paper No. w30270
Number of pages: 61 Posted: 25 Jul 2022 Last Revised: 14 Apr 2023
Arun G. Chandrasekhar, Robert M. Townsend and Juan Pablo Xandri
Stanford University - Department of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Princeton University
Downloads 3 (1,037,799)
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33.

The Village Money Market Revealed: Financial Access and Credit Chain Links between Formal and Informal Sectors

Annual Review of Financial Economics, Vol. 14, pp. 1-20, 2022
Posted: 11 Nov 2022
Parit Sripakdeevong and Robert M. Townsend
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

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34.

Financial Structure and Economic Welfare: Applied General Equilibrium Development Economics

Annual Review of Economics, Vol. 2, pp. 507-546, 2010
Posted: 18 Oct 2010
Robert M. Townsend
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

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