We find that both the aggregate issuance of bonds, and the volume of commercial and industrial loans outstanding in the US, respond to fluctuations in industrial production and interest rates, but in opposite directions. This empirical result suggests that universal banks can reduce the cyclical...

We develop a monopolistic version of a dynamic model of banking, where financial intermediation and payment services play a relevant role. We then empirically test the model using balance-sheet data for large European and US banks, and find strong support for the main predictions of the model....

This paper studies empirically the link between financial markets volatility and primary placements of stocks and bonds for the US economy. We find that the impact of volatility on primary placements is not statistically significant.

A Markowitz portfolio model is developed in this paper, in order to show how the optimal portfolio is changed if the bank forecasts a shock. It is shown that monetary and real shocks result in quite different patterns of reaction by the bank and these results do not depend on the existence of...

This paper looks for evidence that the availability of external finance affects the aggregate investment of non-financial corporations of the US. We do not find any empirical support for this hypothesis. Furthermore, we find that the amount of external finance raised does not depend on the need...

L'obiettivo di questo lavoro è mostrare come i limiti della teoria sociale di Hayek, fondata sul concetto di ordine spontaneo possano essere superati,integrando la teoria con una concezione contrattualistica delle istituzioni, quale quella sviluppata dalla constitutional economics. Il principio...

Banking intermediaries help to coordinate different agents’ plans, reducing the uncertainty that might otherwise hamper transactions because of disruptive “lemon” problems. By establishing trust relationships based on private information, banks allow risk pooling and provide insurance to...

Banks provide insurance against interest rate shocks and real shocks. After the introduction of the common currency the credit system tends to take more of the risk of the private sector, reducing the overall risk of the economy and increasing the risk sharing among different countries and...

We critically discuss recent developments in the theory of banking, focusing on the two set of services that banks jointly provide: payment services by means of bookkeeping transactions and financial intermediation services. The limitation of the available information, of the capabilities of the...

This work develops a portfolio model of the banking firm where both the size and composition of the portfolio are jointly determined. The model provides a micro-foundation of the credit channel of transmission of monetary policy. It allows to analise the pricing policies of the banking firm, and...