Counterparty default risk might hamper trade and trigger a financial crisis. The introduction of a central clearing counterparty (CCP) benefits trading but pushes systemic risk into CCP default. Standard risk management strategies at CCPs currently overlook a risk associated with crowded trades....

We characterize the relation between corporate asset structure and capital structure by exploitingvariation in the salability of tangible assets. Theory suggests that tangibility increases borrowingcapacity because it allows creditors to more easily repossess a firm’s assets. Tangible assets,...

In this paper we introduce flexibility as an economic concept and apply it to the firm’ssecurity issuance decision and capital structure choice. Flexibility is the ability to makedecisions that one thinks are best even when others disagree. The firm’s management valuesflexibility because it...

This discussion paper led to a publication in <A href="http://www.springerlink.com/content/n3w45lxj307m883m/">'Public Choice'</A> 109(3-4) 371-94.<P>In this paper we investigate experimentally the functioning of a wage tax financed unemployment benefit system on the development of the budget deficit, unemployment, and some other indicators of economic performance...</p></a>