This paper deals with the issue of how the market structure in banking affects the choice of means of payment. In particular, the demand for cash is analysed from this point of view. The analysis is based on a simple spatial transactions model in which the banks’ optimization problem is...

This theoretical paper explores screening with loan collateral when both the collateral value and the probability of project success fluctuate. Some model versions challenge the classic findings of Bester (1985) by showing that high-risk borrowers may in such case be more willing to pledge...

The aim of this research is to provide new insights about the limits of borrowing. The second chapter contributes to the theory of limits of borrowing by a study of LOLRs in an original model. The third chapter introduces a new approach to test and measure the limits of borrowing...

Measuring value creation by comparing the RAROC of an exposure (the return on risk capital) with a single institution-wide hurdle rate is inconsistent with the standard theory of financial valuation. We use asset pricing theory to determine the appropriate hurdle rate for such a RAROC...

Persistent shifts in equilibria are likely to arise in oligopolistic markets and may be detrimental to the measurement of conduct, related markups and intensity of competition. We develop a cointegrated VAR (vector autoregression) based approach to detect long-run changes in conduct when data...

This paper presents evidence on the impact of managers on cost efficiency in banking. Stochastic frontier analysis is applied to a unique Finnish data set. The paper finds that manager age and education have strong yet complicated effects. University education enhances efficiency if the manager...

The paper is an update through early 1994 of a similarly titled paper (Bank of Finland Discussion Papers 8/93). It gives a brief description of the evolution of the Finnish banking crisis and its handling. In the first section, the salient features of the Finnish banking system are described. We...

We study the long standing issue of whether markets can supply banks with sufficient liquidity or whether markets should be complemented with a lender of last resort (LOLR). For this purpose, we develop an extended version of the recent model of Holmström and Tirole (1998) on the supply of...

A topical concern in public-policy debate is that the current capital adequacy regulation designed for stand-alone financial institutions exhibits several weaknesses due to the emergence of large financial institutions combining several activities under common control. This paper addresses these...

This paper tests market power in the banking industry. Price-cost margins predicted by different oligopoly models are calculated using discrete-choice demand estimates of own-price and cross-price elasticities. These predicted price-cost margins are then compared with price-cost margins computed...