Starting from the Merton framework for firm defaults, we provide theanalytics and robustness of the relationship between defaultprobabilities and default correlations. We show that loans with higherdefault probabilities will not only have higher variances but also highercorrelations with other...

This paper analyzes the relation between agency conflicts and risk management in a contingent claims model of the firm. In contrast to previous contributions, our analysis incorporates not only stockholder-debtholder conflicts but also managerstockholder conflicts. In particular we consider a...

Die aktuellen EU-Solvabilitätsvorschriften sind seit ihrer Einführung in den Jahren1973 (Nichtlebensversicherungen) und 1979 (Lebensversicherungsunternehmen)Gegenstand massiver Kritik.1 Ein zentraler Kritikpunkt resultiert aus derTatsache, dass sich die EU-Solvabilitätsregeln lediglich am...

Many institutional investors depend on the returns they generate to fund their operations and liabilities. How do these investors' financial conditions affect the management of their portfolios? We address this issue using the insurance industry because insurers are large investors for which...

Using a news-based index of geopolitical risk (GPR), we document a strong negative relationship between firm-level corporate investment and GPR. When the GPR index doubles, investment rate in the next quarter declines by 14% of its sample mean. The effect is more pronounced for firms with more...

We consider a risk-averse entrepreneur who invests in a project with idiosyncratic risk and takes debt financing for diversification benefits. In contrast to the literature, we assume the entrepreneur is unable to get a loan from a bank directly because of the low creditability of the...

We derive the optimal corporate pension portfolio policy in a consolidated setting in the presence of PBGC insurance. The paper's result formalizes the forces of risk shifting and risk management that shape the form of the corporate pension portfolio. As in Rauh (2009), the risk-shifting and...

The high cost of capital for firms conducting medical research and development (R&D) has been partly attributed to the government risk facing investors in medical innovation. This risk slows down medical innovation because investors must be compensated for it. We propose new and simple financial...

Defined-benefit (DB) pension funds, often underfunded, rely on the legal obligation of their sponsor to secure pension rights for individuals. The sponsor guarantee being risky, its riskiness must be hedged to secure the pension promises. This appendix details the implementation of the extended...

The possibility to minimize volatility of the systematic risk while maximizing returns, is the use of an optimized buy long/sell short strategy that takes into account, that the market model is kinky. The equation of the market model – including a beta plus for increasing markets and a beta...