Results from portfolio models for credit risk tell us that loan concentration in certain industry sectors can substantially increase the value-at-risk (VaR). The purpose of this paper is to analyze whether a tractable infection modelʺ can provide a meaningful estimate of the impact of...

This paper proposes a rating methodology that is based on a non-linear classification method, the support vector machine, and a non-parametric technique for mapping rating scores into probabilities of default. We give an introduction to underlying statistical models and represent the results of...

We put forward a Merton-type multi-factor portfolio model for assessing banks’ contributions to systemic risk. This model accounts for the major drivers of banks’ systemic relevance: size, default risk and correlation of banks’ assets as a proxy for interconnectedness. We measure systemic...

This paper sets out to help explain why estimates of asset correlations based on equity prices tend to be considerably higher than estimates based on default rates. Resolving this empirical puzzle is highly important because, firstly, asset correlations are a key driver of credit risk and,...