Survey data from Bulgaria show that people who had experienced a loss during a banking crisisare significantly more likely to expect a new crisis. This result holds despite 12 years betweenthe earlier crisis and the survey, and the dramatically improved performance of the financialsector and the...

We examine evidence for a systematic underperformance of Germany's state-owned banks in the current financial crisis and study if the bank losses can be traced to the quality of bank governance. For this purpose, we examine the biographical background of 593 supervisory board members in the 29...

I analyze the risks in the banking systems in East Asia using the standard supervisory framework, which assesses capital adequacy, asset quality, management, earnings, and liquidity (CAMEL), I find that banking systems in the region are sound, but that the short-term outlook is negative. Second,...

We analyze how a wealth shift to emerging countries may lead to instability in developed countries. Investors exposed to expropriation risk are willing to pay a safety premium to invest in countries with good property rights. Domestic intermediaries compete for such cheap funding by carving out...

We assess the effects of monetary policy on bank risk to verify the existence of a risk-taking channel - monetary expansions inducing banks to assume more risk. We first present VAR evidence confirming that this channel exists and tends to concentrate on the bank funding side. Then, to...

We develop a model of the joint capital structure decisions of banks and their borrowers. Strikingly high bank leverage emerges naturally from the interplay between two sets of forces. First, seniority and diversification reduce bank asset volatility by an order of magnitude relative to that of...

In collateralized lending markets haircuts are used to protect the lender from the risk of loss. An important cross-sectional determinant of haircuts is the systematic risk profile of the collateral, which describes the rate at which the collateral value is expected to decline in adverse market...

Theoretical and empirical research has shown that a sound and effective financial system is critical for economic development and growth. The financial system, however, is also subject to boom and bust cycles and fragility, with negative repercussions for the real economy. Further, the political...

One of the more important issues emerging out of the 2008 financial crisis concerns the proper resolution of a systemically important financial institution. In response to this, Title II of Dodd-Frank created the Orderly Liquidation Authority, or OLA, which is designed to create a resolution...

Big is bad. At least that has become the view of many individuals about big banks ever since the financial crisis of 2007-2009. The fear is that if a big bank gets into trouble, its problems will infect other financial institutions and threaten the entire economy. Historically, however, big...