How can we design safe financial institutions, and how should we efficiently resolve them? We study these questions by empirically analyzing the failure of a derivatives central clearing counterparty (CCP) in Paris in 1974. First, we identify the risk management failures that caused the default...

We measure the degree of financial integration among the top five financial centers of mid-19th-century Europe by applying threshold-regression analysis to a new database of exchange rates and bullion prices. We find that, instead of London, Hamburg, Frankfurt or Amsterdam, it was Paris that...

We develop a model in which financial intermediaries hold liquidity to protect themselves from shocks. Depending on parameter values, banks may choose to hold too much or too little liquidity on aggregate compared with the socially optimal amount. The model endogenously generates a situation of...

When money was made of gold and silver, individuals faced the problem of determining the intrinsic content of coins in many exchange situations. In this paper we look at a well-documented solution to this problem, and a key institution of the commodity money system: coin assaying. To that goal...

With the Euro Area context in mind, we show that currency arrangements impact on credit available through default incentives. To this end we build a symmetric two-country model with money and imperfect credit market integration. Differences in credit market integration are captured by variations...

Using local administrative data from 1826 to 1936, we document the evolution of crime rates in 19th century France and we estimate the impact of a negative income shock on crime. Our identification strategy exploits the phylloxera crisis. Between 1863 and 1890, phylloxera destroyed about 40% of...

With the European debt crisis, the role of assets accepted by the Eurosystem as collateral for refinancing operations took on a new place in the public debate, as, against a backdrop of shifting demand for refinancing, movements in European bond prices led to significant fluctuations in the...