This file is part of IDEAS, which uses RePEc data


[ Papers | Articles | Software | Books | Chapters | Authors | Institutions | JEL Classification | NEP reports | Search | New papers by email | Author registration | Rankings | Volunteers | FAQ | Blog | Help! ]

Why do banks promise to pay par on demand?

Author info | Abstract | Publisher info | Download info | Related research | Statistics
Author Info
Gerald P. Dwyer, Jr.
Margarita Samartín

Additional information is available for the following registered author(s):

Abstract

We survey the theories of why banks promise to pay par on demand and examine evidence about the conditions under which banks have promised to pay the par value of deposits and banknotes on demand when holding only fractional reserves. The theoretical literature can be broadly divided into four strands: liquidity provision, asymmetric information, legal restrictions, and a medium of exchange. We assume that it is not zero cost to make a promise to redeem a liability at par value on demand. If so, then the conditions in the theories that result in par redemption are possible explanations of why banks promise to pay par on demand. If the explanation based on customers’ demand for liquidity is correct, payment of deposits at par will be promised when banks hold assets that are illiquid in the short run. If the asymmetric-information explanation based on the difficulty of valuing assets is correct, the marketability of banks’ assets determines whether banks promise to pay par. If the legal restrictions explanation of par redemption is correct, banks will not promise to pay par if they are not required to do so. If the transaction explanation is correct, banks will promise to pay par value only if the deposits are used in transactions. After the survey of the theoretical literature, we examine the history of banking in several countries in different eras: fourth-century Athens, medieval Italy, Japan, and free banking and money market mutual funds in the United States. We find that all of the theories can explain some of the observed banking arrangements, and none explain all of them.

Download Info
To download:

If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. Information about this may be contained in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.

File URL: http://www.frbatlanta.org/filelegacydocs/wp0626.pdf
File Format: application/pdf
File Function:
Download Restriction: no

Publisher Info
Paper provided by Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta in its series Working Paper with number 2006-26.

Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML (with abstract), plain text (with abstract), BibTeX, RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite), ReDIF
Length:
Date of creation: 2006
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:fip:fedawp:2006-26

Contact details of provider:
Postal: 1000 Peachtree St., N.E., Atlanta, Georgia 30309
Phone: 404-521-8500
Email:
Web page: http://www.frbatlanta.org/
More information through EDIRC

Order Information:
Email:

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (Diane Rosenberger).

Related research
Keywords:

Other versions of this item:

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports: References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Edward J. Green & Ping Lin, 2000. "Diamond and Dybvig's classic theory of financial intermediation : what's missing?," Quarterly Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, issue Win, pages 3-13. [Downloadable!]
  2. Bhattacharya, Sudipto & Padilla, A Jorge, 1996. "Dynamic Banking: A Reconsideration," Review of Financial Studies, Oxford University Press for Society for Financial Studies, vol. 9(3), pages 1003-32. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Haubrich, Joseph G. & King, Robert G., 1990. "Banking and insurance," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 361-386, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  4. Bengt Holmstrom & Jean Tirole, 1998. "Private and Public Supply of Liquidity," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 106(1), pages 1-40, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  5. Hellwig, Martin, 1994. "Liquidity provision, banking, and the allocation of interest rate risk," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 38(7), pages 1363-1389, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Jacklin, Charles J., 1993. "Market rate versus fixed rate demand deposits," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 237-258, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Hellwig, Martin, 1997. "Banks, Markets, and the Allocation of Risks in an Economy," Sonderforschungsbereich 504 Publications 97-35, Sonderforschungsbereich 504, Universität Mannheim & Sonderforschungsbereich 504, University of Mannheim.
  8. Itay Goldstein & Ady Pauzner, 2005. "Demand-Deposit Contracts and the Probability of Bank Runs," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(3), pages 1293-1327, 06. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Hasan, Iftekhar & Dwyer, Gerald P, Jr, 1994. "Bank Runs in the Free Banking Period," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 26(2), pages 271-88, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Gerald P. Dwyer, Jr. & R.W. Hafer, 2001. "Bank failures in banking panics: Risky banks or road kill?," Working Paper 2001-13, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. [Downloadable!]
  11. S. Bhattacharya & P. Fulghieri & R. Rovelli, 1997. "Financial Intermediation Versus Stock Markets in a Dynamic Intertemporal Model," Working Papers 300, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  12. Gerald P. Dwyer, Jr. & Iftekhar Hasan, 1996. "Suspension of payments, bank failures, and the nonbank public's losses," Working Paper 96-3, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  13. Diamond, Douglas W, 1997. "Liquidity, Banks, and Markets," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 105(5), pages 928-56, October.
    Other versions:
  14. Freeman, Scott, 1996. "Clearinghouse banks and banknote over-issue," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 101-115, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  15. Gary Gorton & Lixin Huang, 2002. "Bank Panics and the Endogeneity of Central Banking," Center for Financial Institutions Working Papers 02-29, Wharton School Center for Financial Institutions, University of Pennsylvania. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  16. von Thadden, Ernst-Ludwig, 1998. "Intermediated versus Direct Investment: Optimal Liquidity Provision and Dynamic Incentive Compatibility," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 7(2), pages 177-197, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  17. Temin, Peter, 2004. "Financial Intermediation in the Early Roman Empire," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 64(03), pages 705-733, September. [Downloadable!]
  18. Williamson, Stephen D., 1992. "Laissez-faire banking and circulating media of exchange," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 2(2), pages 134-167, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  19. Douglas W. Diamond & Raghuram G. Rajan, 2003. "Money in a Theory of Banking," NBER Working Papers 10070, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  20. repec:fip:fedreq:y:1979:i:jul:p:15-31:n:v.65no.4 is not listed on IDEAS
  21. Greene, Jason T. & Hodges, Charles W., 2002. "The dilution impact of daily fund flows on open-end mutual funds," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 131-158, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  22. Gorton, Gary & Pennacchi, George, 1990. " Financial Intermediaries and Liquidity Creation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 45(1), pages 49-71, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  23. Alonso, Irasema, 1996. "On avoiding bank runs," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 73-87, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  24. Freeman, Scott, 1996. "The Payments System, Liquidity, and Rediscounting," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(5), pages 1126-38, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  25. Qi, Jianping, 1994. "Bank Liquidity and Stability in an Overlapping Generations Model," Review of Financial Studies, Oxford University Press for Society for Financial Studies, vol. 7(2), pages 389-417. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  26. S. Rao Aiyagari, 1988. "Banking panics, information, and rational expectations equilibrium," Working Papers 320, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. [Downloadable!]
  27. Lyon, Andrew B, 1984. " Money Market Funds and Shareholder Dilution," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 39(4), pages 1011-20, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  28. Gorton, Gary, 1988. "Banking Panics and Business Cycles," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 40(4), pages 751-81, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  29. Allen, Franklin & Gale, Douglas, 1997. "Financial Markets, Intermediaries, and Intertemporal Smoothing," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 105(3), pages 523-46, June.
    Other versions:
  30. Calomiris, Charles W & Kahn, Charles M, 1991. "The Role of Demandable Debt in Structuring Optimal Banking Arrangements," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 81(3), pages 497-513, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  31. Edward J. Green & Ping Lin, 1996. "Implementing efficient allocations in a model of financial intermediation," Working Papers 576, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  32. Franklin Allen & Douglas Gale, 1998. "Optimal Financial Crises," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 53(4), pages 1245-1284, 08. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  33. Douglas W. Diamond & Raghuram G. Rajan, 2001. "Liquidity Risk, Liquidity Creation, and Financial Fragility: A Theory of Banking," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 109(2), pages 287-327, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  34. Fulghieri, Paolo & Rovelli, Riccardo, 1998. "Capital markets, financial intermediaries, and liquidity supply," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 22(9), pages 1157-1180, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  35. Gary Gorton & Lixin Huang, 2002. "Banking Panics and the Origin of Central Banking," NBER Working Papers 9137, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  36. Douglas W. Diamond & Raghuram G. Rajan, 2001. "Banks and Liquidity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(2), pages 422-425, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  37. V.V. Chari & Ravi Jagannathan, 1984. "Banking Panics," Discussion Papers 618, Northwestern University, Center for Mathematical Studies in Economics and Management Science. [Downloadable!]
  38. Diamond, Douglas W & Dybvig, Philip H, 1983. "Bank Runs, Deposit Insurance, and Liquidity," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 91(3), pages 401-19, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  39. Jacklin, Charles J & Bhattacharya, Sudipto, 1988. "Distinguishing Panics and Information-Based Bank Runs: Welfare and Policy Implications," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 96(3), pages 568-92, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  40. Neil Wallace, 1988. "Another attempt to explain an illiquid banking system: the Diamond and Dybvig model with sequential service taken seriously," Quarterly Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, issue Fall, pages 3-16. [Downloadable!]
  41. Flannery, Mark J, 1994. "Debt Maturity and the Deadweight Cost of Leverage: Optimally Financing Banking Firms," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(1), pages 320-31, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  42. Gorton, Gary, 1996. "Reputation Formation in Early Bank Note Markets," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 104(2), pages 346-97, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  43. Neil Wallace, 1990. "A banking model in which partial suspension is best," Quarterly Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, issue Fall, pages 11-23. [Downloadable!]
  44. Qi, Jianping, 1998. "Deposit Liquidity and Bank Monitoring," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 7(2), pages 198-218, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  45. Dr. Peter Kenning & Hilke Plassmann, 2004. "NeuroEconomics," Experimental 0412005, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
  46. Chari, V V & Jagannathan, Ravi, 1988. " Banking Panics, Information, and Rational Expectations Equilibrium," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 43(3), pages 749-61, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  47. Qian, Yiming & John, Kose & John, Teresa A., 2004. "Financial system design and liquidity provision by banks and markets in a dynamic economy," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 385-403, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  48. James Peck & Karl Shell, 2003. "Equilibrium Bank Runs," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 111(1), pages 103-123, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  49. Economopoulos, Andrew J., 1990. "Free bank failures in New York and Wisconsin: A portfolio analysis," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 421-441, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  50. Anil K. Kashyap & Raghuram Rajan & Jeremy C. Stein, 2002. "Banks as Liquidity Providers: An Explanation for the Coexistence of Lending and Deposit-Taking," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(1), pages 33-73, 02. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  51. Gerald P. Dwyer, Jr., 1996. "Wildcat banking, banking panics, and free banking in the United States," Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, issue Dec, pages 1-20. [Downloadable!]
  52. Edward J. Green, 1996. "Money and Debt in the Structure of Payments," Macroeconomics 9609002, EconWPA, revised 09 Sep 1996. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Gerald P. Dwyer & Paula Tkac, 2009. "The financial crisis of 2008 in fixed income markets," Working Paper 2009-20, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. [Downloadable!]
Statistics
Access and download statistics

Did you know? Over 1000 institutions contribute their bibliographic data directly to this service.

This page was last updated on 2009-11-20.

This information is provided to you by IDEAS at the Department of Economics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Connecticut using RePEc data on a server sponsored by the Society for Economic Dynamics.