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! ]

What Is Optimal Financial Regulation?

Author info | Abstract | Publisher info | Download info | Related research | Statistics
Author Info
Richard J. Herring
Anthony M. Santomero
Abstract

The financial system is regulated to achieve a wide variety of purposes. However, the objective that distinguishes financial regulation from other kinds is that of safeguarding the economy against systemic risk. Concerns regarding systemic risk focus largely on banks, which traditionally have been considered to have a special role in the economy. The safety nets that have been rigged to protect banks from systemic risk have succeeded in preventing banking panics, but at the cost of distorting incentives for risk taking. Regulators have a variety of options to correct this distortion, but none can be relied upon to produce an optimal solution.

Technological and conceptual advances may be ameliorating the problem, nonetheless. Banks are becoming less special. The US is leading the way, but the trends are apparent in other industrial countries as well. The challenge facing regulators is to facilitate these advances and hasten the end of the special status of banks. Once banks have lost their special status, financial safety nets may be dismantled thus ending the distortions they create. Ultimately, regulation for prudential purposes may be completely unnecessary. The optimal regulation for safety and soundness purposes may be no regulation at all.

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://fic.wharton.upenn.edu/fic/papers/00/0034.pdf
File Format: application/pdf
File Function:
Download Restriction: no

Publisher Info
Paper provided by Wharton School Center for Financial Institutions, University of Pennsylvania in its series Center for Financial Institutions Working Papers with number 00-34.

Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML (with abstract), plain text (with abstract), BibTeX, RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite), ReDIF
Length:
Date of creation: Aug 2000
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:wop:pennin:00-34

Contact details of provider:
Postal: 3301 Steinberg Hall-Dietrich Hall, 3620 Locust Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19104.6367
Phone: 215.898.1279
Fax: 215.573.8757
Email:
Web page: http://fic.wharton.upenn.edu/fic/
More information through EDIRC

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

Related research
Keywords:

Other versions of this item:

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. Kane, Edward J., 1995. "Three paradigms for the role of capitalization requirements in insured financial institutions," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 19(3-4), pages 431-459, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Bernanke, Ben & Gertler, Mark, 1989. "Agency Costs, Net Worth, and Business Fluctuations," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(1), pages 14-31, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Bernanke, Ben & Gertler, Mark, 1990. "Financial Fragility and Economic Performance," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 105(1), pages 87-114, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  4. Anthony M. Santomero, 1997. "Deposit Insurance: Do We Need It and Why?," Center for Financial Institutions Working Papers 97-35, Wharton School Center for Financial Institutions, University of Pennsylvania. [Downloadable!]
  5. George J. Benston & George G. Kaufman, 1988. "Risk and solvency regulation of depository institutions: past policies and current options," Staff Memoranda 88-1, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
  6. Frederick T. Furlong & Michael C. Keeley, 1987. "Bank capital regulation and asset risk," Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, issue Spr, pages 20-40. [Downloadable!]
  7. Franklin Allen, Douglas Gale, 1988. "Optimal Security Design," Review of Financial Studies, Oxford University Press for Society for Financial Studies, vol. 1(3), pages 229-263. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  8. 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)
  9. Anthony M. Santomero & Jeffrey J. Trester, 1997. "Structuring Deposit Insurance for a United Europe," European Financial Management, Blackwell Publishing Ltd, vol. 3(2), pages 135-154. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. John H. Boyd & Mark Gertler, 1994. "Are banks dead? or, are the reports greatly exaggerated?," Proceedings, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, issue May, pages 85-117.
    Other versions:
  11. Gorton, Gary, 1988. "Banking Panics and Business Cycles," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 40(4), pages 751-81, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Diamond, Douglas W, 1984. "Financial Intermediation and Delegated Monitoring," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 51(3), pages 393-414, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Franklin Allen & Anthony M. Santomero, 1996. "The Theory of Financial Intermediation," Center for Financial Institutions Working Papers 96-32, Wharton School Center for Financial Institutions, University of Pennsylvania. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  14. Paul Hoffman & Anthony M. Santomero, 1998. "Life Insurance Firms in the Retirement Market: Is the News All Bad?," Center for Financial Institutions Working Papers 98-04, Wharton School Center for Financial Institutions, University of Pennsylvania. [Downloadable!]
  15. Fama, Eugene F., 1985. "What's different about banks?," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(1), pages 29-39, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  16. 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:
  17. Black, Fischer, 1975. "Bank funds management in an efficient market," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 2(4), pages 323-339, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  18. Marvin S. Goodfriend, 1988. "Money, credit, banking, and payment system policy," Proceedings, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, pages 247-284.
    Other versions:
  19. Ellis, David M. & Flannery, Mark J., 1992. "Does the debt market assess large banks, risk? : Time series evidence from money center CDs," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 481-502, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  20. Kareken, John H & Wallace, Neil, 1978. "Deposit Insurance and Bank Regulation: A Partial-Equilibrium Exposition," Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 51(3), pages 413-38, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  21. Mark Flannery, 1998. "Modernizing financial regulation (again)," Proceedings, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, issue Sep.
  22. Miller, Merton H., 1995. "Do the M & M propositions apply to banks?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 19(3-4), pages 483-489, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  23. Caprio, Gerard Jr., 1996. "Bank regulation : the case of the missing model," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1574, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  24. Bhattacharya Sudipto & Thakor Anjan V., 1993. "Contemporary Banking Theory," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 3(1), pages 2-50, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  25. Santomero, Anthony M. & Trester, Jeffrey J., 1998. "Financial innovation and bank risk taking," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 25-37, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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. Klüh, Ulrich, 2005. "Safety Net Design and Systemic Risk: New Empirical Evidence," Discussion Papers in Economics 662, University of Munich, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  2. Schüler , Martin, 2003. "How Do Banking Supervisors Deal with Europe-wide Systemic Risk?," ZEW Discussion Papers 03-03, ZEW - Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung / Center for European Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
  3. Anthony M Santomero & David L. Eckles, 2000. "The Determinants Of Success In the New Financial Services Environment: Now That Firms Can Do Everything, What Should They Do And Why Should Regulators Care?," Center for Financial Institutions Working Papers 00-32, Wharton School Center for Financial Institutions, University of Pennsylvania. [Downloadable!]
  4. Giorgio Di Giorgio & Carmine Di Noia, 2001. "Financial Regulation and Supervision in the Euro Area: A Four-Peak Proposal," Center for Financial Institutions Working Papers 01-02, Wharton School Center for Financial Institutions, University of Pennsylvania. [Downloadable!]
  5. Niemeyer, Jonas, 2001. "Where to Go after the Lamfalussy Report? - An Economic Analysis of Securities Market Regulation and Supervision," Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance 482, Stockholm School of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  6. Franklin Allen & Richard Herring, 2001. "Banking Regulation versus Securities Market Regulation," Center for Financial Institutions Working Papers 01-29, Wharton School Center for Financial Institutions, University of Pennsylvania. [Downloadable!]
Statistics
Access and download statistics

Did you know? No RePEc service, like IDEAS, charges for the use or the display of bibliographic data.

This page was last updated on 2009-12-6.

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.