Robust chaos in a credit cycle model defined by a one-dimensional piecewise smooth map

Abstract We consider a family of one-dimensional continuous piecewise smooth maps with monotone increasing and monotone decreasing branches. It is associated with a credit cycle model introduced by Matsuyama, under the assumption of the Cobb-Douglas production function. We offer a detailed analysis of the dynamics of this family. In particular, using the skew tent map as a border collision normal form we obtain the conditions of abrupt transition from an attracting fixed point to an attracting cycle or a chaotic attractor (cyclic chaotic intervals). These conditions allow us to describe the bifurcation structure of the parameter space of the map in a neighborhood of the boundary related to the border collision bifurcation of the fixed point. Particular attention is devoted to codimension-two bifurcation points. Moreover, the described bifurcation structure confirms that the chaotic attractors of the considered map are robust, that is, persistent under parameter perturbations.