Working Paper(15-001E) "Asset Bubbles and Bailouts"

As long as bubble size is relatively small, bubbles increase production level, but once the size becomes too large, then bubbles reduce it. Given this non-monotonic relationship, this paper investigates the relationship between bubbles and government bailouts. It shows that bailouts for bursting bubbles may positively influence ex-ante production efficiency and relax the existence condition of stochastic bubbles. The level of bailouts has a non-monotonic relationship with production efficiency and a "partial bailout" policy achieves production efficiency. Moreover, it examines the welfare effects of bailout policies rigorously and shows that even non-risky bubbles may be undesirable for taxpayers.

Asset Bubbles and Bailouts （PDF：782KB）