The paper analyzes a very stylized model of crises and demonstrates how the degree of strategic complementarity in the actions of investors is a critical determinant of fragility. It is shown how the balance sheet composition of a financial intermediary, parameters of the information structure...

Most analyses of the financial crisis of 2007-2008 assign a large causal role to inflated credit ratings. The ratings flaw most directly implicated in the crisis involved “second-level” mortgage securitizations: individual mortgages were pooled and securities sold against them, and some of...

Die Subprime-Krise am US-amerikanischen Markt für verbriefte zweitrangige Hypothekenforderungen hat verdeutlicht, dass verschiedene Friktionen in der Wertschöpfungskette von Verbriefungen bestehen. Julia Scholz untersucht verschiedene, bislang in der Literatur wenig beachtete, aber für die...