The ability to accurately estimate the extent to which the failure of a bank disrupts the financial system is very valuable for regulators of the financial system. One important part of the financial system is the interbank payment system. This paper develops a robust measure, SinkRank, that...

The efficiency of business transactions has become increasingly important in the digital age, and an issue that has arguably evolved as a result of free-markets. Already, advances in technology has revolutionized the medium of exchange from tangible hard-cold cash, to an intangible medium,...

This paper develops a model of settlement system to study the endogenous structure of settlement networks, and the welfare consequences of clearing agent failure. The equilibrium degree of tiering is endogenously determined by the cost structure and the information structure. The degree of...

We track 38,000 money market trades from execution to delivery and return to provide a first empirical analysis of settlement delays in financial markets. In line with predictions from recent models showing that financial claims are settled strategically, we document a tendency by lenders to...

In this paper we consider the relative merits of net versus gross settlement of interbank payments. Net settlement economizes on the costs of holding non-interest-bearing reserves but increases moral hazard problems. The "put option" value of default under net settlement can also distort banks'...

This paper examines a central bank's choice of intraday credit policy for Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) systems. Formal analysis of central bank objectives and commercial bank payment activity provides insight into both the choice and effects of several possible intraday credit policies....

In an economy where fiat money serves both as a medium of exchange and the means by which debts are cleared, it is shown that nonoptimal equilibria of constrained liquidity may arise. Optimality may be restored by temporary expansions of the monetary base (e.g., an active central- bank "discount...

The failure of a financial institution (banks and microfinance institutions) to meet its payment obligations can have implications, not only for its continuity, but also for the stability of payment systems, markets, and the financial system in general. Central banks, as monetary authorities,...

Before the era of large central bank balance sheets, banks relied on incoming payments to fund outgoing payments in order to conserve scarce liquidity. Even in the era of large central bank balance sheets, rather than funding payments with abundant reserve balances, we show that outgoing...