The aim of this PhD dissertation is to provide new insights about the limits of borrowing. It includes four essays which provide theoretical, methodological and empirical results. The first chapter contributes to the theory of limits of borrowing by a study of lender of last resort (LOLR) in an original model. The second chapter contributes to methodology by introducing a new approach to test and measure the limits of borrowing econometrically. It also contributes to the empirical understanding of the limits of borrowing by applying the new approach to test the cyclical behavior and the effects of regulation on the limits of borrowing. The third chapter contributes to our empirical understanding of the effect of limits of borrowing on consumption. The fourth chapter yields new insight about the effect of bank ownership on the limits of borrowing during a financial crisis.
