Financial crisis and slow recovery with Bayesian learning agents

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Horii, R. & Ono, Y. (2021) Financial crisis and slow recovery with Bayesian learning agents. International Journal of Economic Theory, 1– 29, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/ijet.12322. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This article may not be enhanced, enriched or otherwise transformed into a derivative work, without express permission from Wiley or by statutory rights under applicable legislation. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley’s version of record on Wiley Online Library and any embedding, framing or otherwise making available the article or pages thereof by third parties from platforms, services and websites other than Wiley Online Library must be prohibited.
In a simple continuous-time model where the learning process affects the willingness to hold liquidity, we provide an intuitive explanation of business cycle asymmetry and postcrisis slow recovery. When observing a liquidity shock, individuals rationally increase their subjective probability of re-encountering it. It leads to an upward jump in liquidity preference and a discrete fall in consumption. Conversely, as a period without shocks continues, they gradually decrease the subjective probability, reduce liquidity preference, and increase consumption. The recovery process is particularly slow after many shocks are observed within a short period because people do not easily change their pessimistic view.