I identify new patterns in countries' recoveries following the 2008 Global Crisis based on proximity through distance, trade, and finance to the US subprime mortgage and Eurozone debt crisis zones. To understand the causes of the cross-country variation in recoveries, I develop an open economy...

I identify new patterns in countries' economic performance over the 2007-2014 period based on proximity through distance, trade, and finance to the US subprime mortgage and Eurozone debt crisis areas. To understand the causes of the cross-country variation, I develop an open economy model with...

Financial intermediaries often provide guarantees that resemble out-of-the-money put options, exposing them to tail risk. Using the U.S. life insurance industry as a laboratory, we present a model in which variable annuity (VA) guarantees and associated hedging operate within the regulatory...