This paper presents a theory that explains why it is beneficial for banks to engage in circular lending activities on the interbank market. Using a simple network structure, it shows that if there is a non-zero bailout probability, banks can significantly increase the expected repayment of...

In the wake of the financial crisis, a number of countries have introduced levies on bank borrowing with the aim of reducing risk in the financial sector. This paper studies the behavioral responses to the bank levies and evaluates the policy. We find that the levies induced banks to borrow less...