The dollarization of bank deposits in developing economies may result in a currency mismatch in domestic banking activities, as recent literature has suggested. This may, in return, increase financial fragility, create balance sheet problems, and affect bank profitability in such economies. This...

This paper considers the optimal taxation of savings intermediation and payment services in a dynamic general equilibrium setting, when the government can also use consumption and income taxes. When payment services are used in strict proportion to final consumption, and the cost of...

This paper analyses some long-run macroeconomic effects of European financial integration. In particular we focus on the further reduction and abolition of crossborder barriers impeding the entry into the markets of banking and insurance products. We follow a theoretical as well as an empirical...

We analyse a model of financial intermediation in which intermediaries are subject to moral hazard and they do not invest socially optimally, because they ignore the systemic costs of failure and, in the case of banks, because they fail to account for risks which are assumed by the deposit...

Banks supply payment services that underpin the smooth operation of the economy. To ensure an efficient payment system, it is important to maintain competition among payment service providers, but data available to gauge the degree of competition are quite limited. We propose and implement a...

Banks supply payment services that underpin the smooth operation of the economy. To ensure an efficient payment system, it is important to maintain competition among payment service providers but data available to gauge the degree of competition are quite limited. We propose and implement a...

This paper examines a cost-reducing innovation to the delivery of Self-Help Group microfinance services. These groups typically rely on outside agents to found and administer the groups although funds are raised by the group members. The innovation is to have the agents earn their payment by...

I address the controversy over whether the financial services industry is "too big." We should be asking whether the finance industry is functioning properly instead. The facts suggest that demand for financial services increased, perhaps temporarily, rather than suggesting a changing distortion...

The availability of credit varies over the business cycle through shifts in the leverage of financial intermediaries. Empirically, we find that intermediary leverage is negatively aligned with the banks' Value-at-Risk (VaR). Motivated by the evidence, we explore a contracting model that captures...

I address the controversy over whether the financial services industry is “too big.” We should be asking whether the finance industry is functioning properly instead. The facts suggest that demand for financial services increased, perhaps temporarily, rather than suggesting a changing...