This article develops a model of bank runs and crises and analyses how the presence of a lender of last resort (LOLR) affects the solvency of the banking system. We obtain a one to one mapping from the depositors' equilibrium strategy to an optimal contract prevailing in the economy. The study finds that the difference between a perfectly informed and an imperfectly informed LOLR can be crucial. Our results indicate that a perfectly informed LOLR is a Pareto improvement. However, if the supervisory process of the LOLR is subject to noise, then the gains from ex post efficiency may be outweighed by ex ante inefficiency induced by moral hazard which is conducive to lower lending rates in the economy.
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Paper provided by EconWPA in its series Finance with number
0410009.
Find related papers by JEL classification: E58 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Central Banks and Their Policies G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Mortgages G28 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Government Policy and Regulation
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Carlsson, Hans & van Damme, Eric, 1993.
"Global Games and Equilibrium Selection,"
Econometrica,
Econometric Society, vol. 61(5), pages 989-1018, September.
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