Search Results
Working Paper
Non-exclusive contracts, collateralized trade, and a theory of an exchange
Liquid markets where agents have limited capacity to sign exclusive contracts may permit agents to promise the same asset to multiple counterparties and subsequently default. I show that in such markets an exchange can arise as an intermediary whose only role is to set limits on the number of contracts that agents can report voluntarily. In some cases, these limits must be non-binding in equilibrium, and reported trades must not be made public. A (costly) alternative to an exchange is collateralized trade, and the gains from an exchange increase when agents have more intangible capital (e.g., ...
Working Paper
Market run-ups, market freezes, and leverage
The authors study trade between a buyer and a seller when both may have existing inventories of assets similar to those being traded. They analyze how these inventories affect trade, information dissemination, and price formation. The authors show that when the buyer's and seller's initial leverage is moderate, inventories increase price and trade volume, but when leverage is high, trade may become impossible (a "market freeze"). Their analysis predicts a pattern of trade in which prices and trade volume first increase, and then markets break down. The authors use their model to discuss ...
Working Paper
Why do markets freeze?
Consider the sale of mortgages by a loan originator to a buyer. As widely noted, such a transaction is subject to a severe adverse selection problem: the originator has a natural information advantage and will attempt to sell only the worst mortgages. However, a second important feature of this transaction has received much less attention: both the seller and the buyer may have existing inventories of mortgages similar to those being sold. The authors analyze how the presence of such inventories affects trade. They use their model to discuss implications for regulatory intervention in ...
Working Paper
Financial networks: contagion, commitment, and private sector bailouts
The author develops a model of financial networks where linkages not only spread contagion, but also induce private-sector bailouts in which liquid banks bail out illiquid banks because of the threat of contagion. Introducing this bailout possibility, the author shows that linkages may be optimal ex-ante because they allow banks to obtain some mutual insurance even though formal commitments are impossible. However, in some cases (for example, when liquidity is concentrated among a small group of banks), the whole network may collapse. The author also characterizes the optimal network size and ...
Journal Article
Should regulators reveal information about banks?
Regulators collect and produce information about banks. This information helps regulators monitor the safety and soundness of the banking system, and it also helps policymakers preserve financial stability. A key issue is whether this information should be made public and, if so, to what extent. In this article, we will explore some of the tradeoffs involved.
Journal Article
Stock prices and business investment
Is there a link between the stock market and business investment? Empirical evidence indicates that there is. A firm tends to invest more when its stock price increases, and it tends to invest less when the price falls. In ?Stock Prices and Business Investment,? Yaron Leitner discusses existing research that explains this relationship. One question under consideration is whether the stock market actually improves investment decisions.
Working Paper
Stress Tests and Information Disclosure
We study an optimal disclosure policy of a regulator that has information about banks (e.g., from conducting stress tests). In our model, disclosure can destroy risk-sharing opportunities for banks (the Hirshleifer effect). Yet, in some cases, some level of disclosure is necessary for risk sharing to occur. We provide conditions under which optimal disclosure takes a simple form (e.g., full disclosure, no disclosure, or a cutoff rule). We also show that, in some cases, optimal disclosure takes a more complicated form (e.g., multiple cutoffs or nonmonotone rules), which we characterize. We ...
Journal Article
Convertible securities and venture capital finance
Venture capital financing relies heavily on convertible securities; the most common type is convertible preferred stock. Venture capital contracts also specify control rights that describe who gets to make the firm's decisions. The recent literature has provided some theoretical explanations for the use of these two features. Underlying these explanations is the idea that individuals can take actions that affect the firm's performance but that these actions cannot be specified in a contract. In this article, Yaron Leitner focuses on venture capital contracts, but the ideas presented can be ...
Working Paper
Market run-ups, market freezes, inventories, and leverage
This paper is superseded by Working Paper No. 13-14.> We study trade between a buyer and a seller who have existing inventories of assets similar to those being traded. We analyze how these inventories affect trade, information dissemination, and prices. We show that when traders? initial leverages are moderate, inventories increase price and trade volume (a market ?run-up?), but when leverages are high, trade is impossible (a market ?freeze?). Our analysis predicts a pattern of trade in which prices and volumes first increase, and then markets break down. Moreover, the presence of competing ...
Working Paper
A theory of an intermediary with nonexclusive contracting
This paper addresses large markets where agents cannot commit to sign exclusive contracts may induce agents to promise the same asset to multiple counterparties and subsequently default. Is how that in such markets an intermediary can increase welfare by simply setting limits on the number of contracts that agents can report to it voluntarily. In some cases, these limits must be nonbinding in equilibrium, and reported trades must not be made public. The theory shows why an exchange may be valuable even when markets are liquid. It also suggests why in some cases a regulator should not reveal ...