I model a financial market that dries out in the wake of premature liquidations. Two main results are obtained. First, liquidity may vanish even if small, riskneutral buyers could easily compensate the ongoing selling. Thus, more markets are vulnerable to quot;runsquot; than suggested by...

This paper investigates the influence of corporate governance on financial firms' performance during the 2007-2008 financial crisis. Using a unique dataset of 296 financial firms from 30 countries that were at the center of the crisis, we find that firms with more independent boards and higher...

Financial innovation is inextricably tied to asymmetric information and therefore sets the stage for financial crises. Over history, every truly meaningful crisis has had elements of asymmetric information, particularly affecting innovative financial instruments that are primary market...

Usurers have been the first step to financial intermediation. Standing as financial intermediaries, they were carrying out the high risk not to be refunded the money granted as loans. But this high risk has always been remunerated by a high interest rate on loans granted. Banks institutions, as...

This paper elucidates the key debates surrounding the optimal design of financial systems and institutions: bank-based versus market-based; universal versus specialized banking; relationship versus arms-length banking. The paper also examines the historical pattern of financial system development...

This paper assesses the potential impact of FinTech on the finance industry. I document first that financial services remain surprisingly expensive, which explains the emergence of new entrants. I then argue that the current regulatory approach is subject to significant political economy and...

This paper attempts to reconcile the apparent contradiction between two strands of the literature on the effects of financial intermediation on economic activity. On the one hand, the empirical growth literature finds a positive effect of financial depth as measured by, for instance, private...

This paper traces the evolution of the Australian financial system from 1788 to the current day showing how institutions have evolved to meet the changing needs of the economy. Governors in the earliest periods struggled with an inappropriate legal and regulatory structure; and the economy...

This paper aims to show the impact of financial variables on the process of convergence between selected European Union and Balkan countries. Indeed, after a delay in the realization of structural changes – result of historical legacy and circumstances in which the transition process took...

What can history can tell us about the relationship between the banking system, financial crises, the global economy, and economic performance? Evidence shows that in the advanced economies we live in a world that is more financialized than ever before as measured by importance of credit in the...