Financial Market Runs / Antonio E. Bernardo, Ivo Welch.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bernardo, Antonio E.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Welch, Ivo.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w9251.

NBER working paper series no. w9251

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2002.

Summary:

Our paper offers a minimalist model of a run on a financial market. The prime ingredient is that each risk-neutral investor fears having to liquidate after a run, but before prices can recover back to fundamental values. During the urn, only the risk-averse market-making sector is willing to absorb shares. To avoid having to possibly liquidate shares at the marginal post-run price in which case the market-making sector will already hold a lot of share inventory and thus be more reluctant to absorb additional shares all investors may prefer selling their shares into the market today at the average run price, thereby causing the run itself. Consequently, stock prices are low and risk is allocated inefficiently. Liquidity runs and crises are not caused by liquidity shocks per se, but by the fear of future liquidity shocks.

Notes:

Print version record

October 2002.