In this paper we study dollarization as a commitment device that the Central Bank could use to avoid getting involved in an undesirable banking-sector bailout. We show how a political process could induce an equilibrium outcome that differs from the one that a benevolent Central Bank would want...

Despite the progress made on the empirical front, normative analyses are still lacking when it comes to foreign currency intermediation (partial dollarization of the domestic banking system) and the ways to address its systemic risks implications. In this paper, we make a comprehensive analysis...

We identify two approaches to financial crises in the history of political economy, namely, the exogenous approach whereby financial crises are sudden events, and the endogenous approach whereby they arise from a long process. In focusing on the endogenous approach, we study the contributions by...

This paper explores how non-U.S. central banks behave when firms in their economies engage in currency mismatch, borrowing more heavily in dollars than justified by their operating exposures. We begin by documenting that, in a panel of 53 countries, central bank holdings of dollar reserves are...

The historical record has remained incomplete as to exactly why the Ohio Life failed on August 24, 1857 and what, if any, causal connection existed between the failure and the subsequent panic. Using new information sources, we make three main contributions to the literature. First, we conduct a...

The prediction and consequences of banking crises continue to be a fab in academic and political discussions. Researchers attempt to describe the link between these crises and the real economy. In this paper, we present an object oriented model that attempts to establish the relation of the real...