According to the traditional view held in finance returns of assets are determined by complete rationality of decision makers. Rational decisions are defined by a set of axioms that are universal and do not leave room for cultural differences. In this article we show that cultural differences do...

I explain the key failure mechanics of large dealer banks, and some policy implications. This is not a review of the financial crisis of 2007–2009. Systemic risk is considered only in passing. Both the financial crisis and the systemic...

Forbes and Rigobon (2002) claim there was no contagion among international stock markets duringthe 1997 Asian crisis, with contagion being defined as an increase in dependence. We revisit thisissue using a more robust methodology based on copula. After controlling for heteroskedasticitywith the...

To resolve the IPO underpricing puzzle it is essential to analyze who knows what when during the issuing process. In Germany, broker-dealers make a market in IPOs during the subscription period. We examine these pre-issue prices and find that they are highly informative. They are closer to the...

A parimutuel market microstructure for contingent claims trading is proposed and analyzed. A parimutuel microstructure is a call auction where relative equilibrium prices of contingent claims are endogenously determined using a specific mechanism. We propose a market microstructure incorporating...

This is the first large-scale examination of initial public offerings in the German market segment Neuer Markt. As such, it represents a powerful sample to examine the pricing process and long-run performance of the 325 initial public offerings take place between 1997 and 2001 at the Neuer...

An vielen Börsen sind heute elektronische Handelssysteme im Einsatz, die nach dem Auktionsprinzip funktionieren. Limitierte Aufträge werden dabei in einem Orderbuch zusammengefaßt, das von den Handelsteilnehmern eingesehen werden kann. In vielen Handelssystemen (darunter Xetra) werden dabei...

What are liquidity crises? And what can be done to address them? This short paper brings together some personal reflections on this issue, largely based on previous work. In the process, it questions a number of commonly held beliefs that have become part of the conventional wisdom. The paper is...