A model of the financial market is evaluated that consists of competing credit institutions (local lenders and financial intermediaries) to determine risk and intermediation effects on the financing obtained by entrepreneurs. Local lenders are considered to be principals with respect to the...

We examine whether the economy can be insured against banking crises with deposit and loan contracts contingent on macroeconomic shocks. We study banking competition and show that the private sector insures the banking system through such contracts, and banking crises are avoided, provided that...

We quantify crash risk in currency returns. To accomplish this task, we develop and estimate an empirical model of exchange rate dynamics using daily data for four currencies relative to the US dollar: the Australian dollar, the British pound, the Swiss franc, and the Japanese yen. The model...