Since contracts are not completely enforceable, part of the pledged resources can be lost in the case of a dispute, for example because of judicial costs and inefficiencies. Pledging more collateral, however, is costly because firms must disclose their revenues and assets to financial intermediaries and also to tax officials. Hence, agents choose how much to invest in the two technologies by trading off the reduced financial cost of supplying more collateral against the benefit of hiding revenues and operating with the low-return technology. The choice between the two technologies therefore is also a choice between the underground and the official economy. Financial development reduces the cost of credit and the incentives to operate underground, while making it more profitable to reveal the revenues from high-tech projects.