We show that the diversification of risks at financial institutions has unwelcome effects by increasing the likelihood of systems crises.As a result, complete diversification is not warranted adn the optimal degree of diversification is arbitrarily low.We also identify externalities that cause...

This paper examines empirically how international taxation affects the volume and pricing of cross-border banking activities for a sample of banks in 38 countries over the 1998-2008 - period. Home country corporate income taxation of foreign-source bank income is found to reduce banking-sector...

Abstract: This paper analyzes the distortions that banks’ cross-border activities, such as foreign assets, deposits and equity, can introduce into regulatory interventions. We find that while each individual dimension of cross-border activities distorts the incentives of a domestic regulator,...

Conglomeration and consolidation in the financial system broaden the activities financial institutions are undertaking and cause them to become more homogenous.Although resulting diversification gains make each institution appear less risky, we argue that financial stability may not improve as...

One of the most important recent innovations in financial markets has been the development of credit derivative products that allow banks to more actively manage their credit portfolios than ever before.We analyze the effect that access to these markets has had on the lending behavior of a...

This paper analyzes the distortions that banks’ cross-border activities, such as foreign assets, deposits and equity, can introduce in the regulatory process. We find that while each individual dimension of cross-border activities distorts the incentives of a domestic regulator, a balanced...