runs, and face a threat of entry. We show how shocks that increase bank competition or bank transparency increase deposit … rates, costly withdrawals, and thus bank fragility. Therefore, perfect competition is not socially optimal. We also propose … a theory of bank opacity. The cost of opacity is more withdrawals from a solvent bank, lowering bank profits. The …

If stable and efficient banks are such a good idea, why are they so rare? -- The game of bank bargains -- Tools of … colonial times to 1990 -- The new U.S. bank bargain : megabanks, urban activists, and the erosion of mortgage standards … -- Leverage, regulatory failure, and the subprime crisis -- Durable partners : politics and banking in Canada -- Mexico : chaos …

bank issues covered bonds backed by a pool of assets that is bankruptcy remote and replenished following losses …. Encumbering assets allows a bank to raise cheap secured debt and expand profitable investment, but it also concentrates risk on …

competition and stability in banking. There are two basic channels through which competition may increase instability: by … incentives to take risk and raise failure probabilities. The competition-stability trade-off is characterized and the … implications of the analysis for regulation and competition policy are derived. It is found that optimal regulation may depend on …