A traffic-jam theory of growth

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Finocchiaro, Daria; Weil, Philippe
• 署名单位: Sveriges Riksbank; Universite Libre de Bruxelles
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF MONETARY ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-3932
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jmoneco.2026.103921
• 发表日期: 2026
• 关键词: innovation; liquidity; too

摘要

We investigate the growth-finance nexus in an endogenous growth model with search frictions and congestion effects in credit and innovation markets. The interaction between these two frictions generates a non-monotonic, inverted-U relationship between financial development and growth. Financial development exerts two opposing forces: a direct positive finance channel by easing access to funding and an indirect negative congestion channel, as greater financial activity draws more firms into R&D competition for scarce innovation resources. The resulting hump-shaped pattern implies that excessive financial development can slow technological progress. The mechanism remains robust when allowing for firm heterogeneity that can generate composition effects. In a calibration close to the U.S. economy, the impact of finance on growth is negative but quantitatively small, consistent with the observation that, over the last century, most advanced economies have experienced financial expansion alongside nearly constant GDP growth rates.