We develop a model where institutions form connections through swaps of projects in order to diversify their individual risk. These connections lead to two different network structures. In a clustered network groups of financial institutions hold identical portfolios and default together. In an...

In this paper, we empirically investigate the degree of systemic risk in the U.S. banking sector versus other industry sectors. We characterize the systemic risk in each sector by the lower tail dependence of stock returns. Our study differs from extant literature in three respects. First, we...

Most traditional insurance companies have escaped the financial storms during 2007-2009 while companies engaging in financial risk taking were not this lucky. In this study, we examine the performance of financial risk insurers and analyze the contributing role of financial risk insurers to...