TY  - JOUR
AU  - Greenwald, Bruce C
AU  - Stiglitz, Joseph E
TI  - Information, Finance, and Markets: The Architecture of Allocative       Mechanisms
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 3652
PY  - 1991
Y2  - March 1991
DO  - 10.3386/w3652
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w3652
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w3652.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Bruce C. Greenwald
Columbia University
611 Uris Hall
New York, NY  10027
E-Mail: bg7@columbia.edu

Joseph E. Stiglitz
Uris Hall, Columbia University
3022 Broadway, Room 212
New York, NY  10027
Tel: 212/854-0671
Fax: 212/662-8474
E-Mail: jes322@columbia.edu
AB  - While bankers and businessmen have long recognized the importance of finance. financial constraints, and financial institutions, they have played a secondary role in neoclassical economic theory. This paper identifies the economic functions with which financial institutions have been concerned, the central problems which they face, and the alternative ways by which those problems can and have been addressed. The importance of limited liability and the legal environment is stressed. The final section explores the relationship between information-based finance constraints, the evolution of the firm, and the growth of the economy.
ER  -