IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jfinan/v75y2020i6p2973-3012.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Safety Transformation and the Structure of the Financial System

Author

Listed:
  • WILLIAM DIAMOND

Abstract

This paper studies how a financial system that is organized to efficiently create safe assets responds to macroeconomic shocks. Financial intermediaries face a cost of bearing risk, so they choose the least risky portfolio that backs their issuance of riskless deposits: a diversified pool of nonfinancial firms' debt. Nonfinancial firms choose their capital structure to exploit the resulting segmentation between debt and equity markets. Increased safe asset demand yields larger and riskier intermediaries and more levered firms. Quantitative easing reduces the size and riskiness of intermediaries and can decrease firm leverage, despite reducing borrowing costs at the zero lower bound.

Suggested Citation

  • William Diamond, 2020. "Safety Transformation and the Structure of the Financial System," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 75(6), pages 2973-3012, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jfinan:v:75:y:2020:i:6:p:2973-3012
    DOI: 10.1111/jofi.12967
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/jofi.12967
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/jofi.12967?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Arvind Krishnamurthy & Annette Vissing-Jorgensen, 2012. "The Aggregate Demand for Treasury Debt," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 120(2), pages 233-267.
    2. Zhiguo He & Arvind Krishnamurthy, 2013. "Intermediary Asset Pricing," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(2), pages 732-770, April.
    3. Judd, Kenneth L., 1985. "The law of large numbers with a continuum of IID random variables," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 19-25, February.
    4. John Y. Campbell & Jens Hilscher & Jan Szilagyi, 2008. "In Search of Distress Risk," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(6), pages 2899-2939, December.
    5. Harald Uhlig, 1996. "A law of large numbers for large economies (*)," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 8(1), pages 41-50.
    6. Arvind Krishnamurthy & Annette Vissing-Jorgensen, 2011. "The Effects of Quantitative Easing on Interest Rates: Channels and Implications for Policy," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 42(2 (Fall)), pages 215-287.
    7. Alan Moreira & Alexi Savov, 2017. "The Macroeconomics of Shadow Banking," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 72(6), pages 2381-2432, December.
    8. Philip Bond, 2004. "Bank and Nonbank Financial Intermediation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 59(6), pages 2489-2529, December.
    9. van Binsbergen, Jules H. & Diamond, William F. & Grotteria, Marco, 2022. "Risk-free interest rates," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(1), pages 1-29.
    10. Baker, Malcolm & Hoeyer, Mathias F. & Wurgler, Jeffrey, 2020. "Leverage and the Beta Anomaly," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 55(5), pages 1491-1514, August.
    11. Frazzini, Andrea & Pedersen, Lasse Heje, 2014. "Betting against beta," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(1), pages 1-25.
    12. Ricardo J Caballero & Emmanuel Farhi, 2018. "The Safety Trap," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 85(1), pages 223-274.
    13. Bernanke, B.S., 2011. "International capital flows and the returns to safe assets in the United States 2003-2007," Financial Stability Review, Banque de France, issue 15, pages 13-26, February.
    14. Tri Vi Dang & Gary Gorton & Bengt Holmström & Guillermo Ordoñez, 2017. "Banks as Secret Keepers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(4), pages 1005-1029, April.
    15. Ricardo J. Caballero & Arvind Krishnamurthy, 2009. "Global Imbalances and Financial Fragility," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(2), pages 584-588, May.
    16. Innes, Robert D., 1990. "Limited liability and incentive contracting with ex-ante action choices," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 52(1), pages 45-67, October.
    17. John Geanakoplos, 2010. "The Leverage Cycle," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 2009, Volume 24, pages 1-65, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Alp Simsek, 2013. "Belief Disagreements and Collateral Constraints," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 81(1), pages 1-53, January.
    19. Anil Shivdasani & Yihui Wang, 2011. "Did Structured Credit Fuel the LBO Boom?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 66(4), pages 1291-1328, August.
    20. Arvind Krishnamurthy & Annette Vissing-Jorgensen, 2011. "The Effects of Quantitative Easing on Interest Rates: Channels and Implications for Policy," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 43(2 (Fall)), pages 215-287.
    21. Peter M. DeMarzo, 2005. "The Pooling and Tranching of Securities: A Model of Informed Intermediation," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 18(1), pages 1-35.
    22. Gorton, Gary & Pennacchi, George, 1990. "Financial Intermediaries and Liquidity Creation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 45(1), pages 49-71, March.
    23. DeAngelo, Harry & Stulz, René M., 2015. "Liquid-claim production, risk management, and bank capital structure: Why high leverage is optimal for banks," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(2), pages 219-236.
    24. Neil Bhutta & Benjamin J. Keys, 2016. "Interest Rates and Equity Extraction during the Housing Boom," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(7), pages 1742-1774, July.
    25. Douglas W. Diamond, 1984. "Financial Intermediation and Delegated Monitoring," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 51(3), pages 393-414.
    26. Adi Sunderam, 2015. "Money Creation and the Shadow Banking System," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 28(4), pages 939-977.
    27. Black, Fischer, 1972. "Capital Market Equilibrium with Restricted Borrowing," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 45(3), pages 444-455, July.
    28. David S. Scharfstein, 2018. "Presidential Address: Pension Policy and the Financial System," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 73(4), pages 1463-1512, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. van Binsbergen, Jules H. & Diamond, William F. & Grotteria, Marco, 2022. "Risk-free interest rates," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(1), pages 1-29.
    2. Hodula, Martin & Škrabić Perić, Blanka & Sorić, Petar, 2023. "Economic uncertainty and non-bank financial intermediation: Evidence from a European panel," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    3. Segura, Anatoli & Villacorta, Alonso, 2023. "The paradox of safe asset creation," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 210(C).
    4. Vadim Elenev & Tim Landvoigt & Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh, 2021. "A Macroeconomic Model With Financially Constrained Producers and Intermediaries," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 89(3), pages 1361-1418, May.
    5. Sushant Acharya & Keshav Dogra & Sanjay R. Singh, 2021. "The financial origins of non-fundamental risk," Working Papers 345, University of California, Davis, Department of Economics.
    6. Jackson, Timothy & Pennacchi, George, 2021. "How should governments create liquidity?," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 281-295.
    7. Chase P. Ross, 2022. "The Collateral Premium and Levered Safe-Asset Production," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2022-046, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    8. Diamond, William & Landvoigt, Tim, 2022. "Credit cycles with market-based household leverage," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(2), pages 726-753.
    9. Hodula, Martin & Libich, Jan, 2023. "Has monetary policy fueled the rise in shadow banking?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. van Binsbergen, Jules H. & Diamond, William F. & Grotteria, Marco, 2022. "Risk-free interest rates," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(1), pages 1-29.
    2. Jackson, Timothy & Pennacchi, George, 2021. "How should governments create liquidity?," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 281-295.
    3. Marcin Kacperczyk & Christophe Pérignon & Guillaume Vuillemey, 2021. "The Private Production of Safe Assets," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 76(2), pages 495-535, April.
    4. Benedikt Ballensiefen & Angelo Ranaldo, 2023. "Safe Asset Carry Trade," The Review of Asset Pricing Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 13(2), pages 223-265.
    5. Golec, Pascal & Perotti, Enrico, 2017. "Safe assets: a review," Working Paper Series 2035, European Central Bank.
    6. Nicola Gennaioli & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 2013. "A Model of Shadow Banking," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 68(4), pages 1331-1363, August.
    7. Merton, Robert C. & Thakor, Richard T., 2019. "Customers and investors: A framework for understanding the evolution of financial institutions," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 4-18.
    8. Mark Egan & Stefan Lewellen & Adi Sunderam, 2022. "The Cross-Section of Bank Value," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 35(5), pages 2101-2143.
    9. William Diamond & Tim Landvoigt, 2019. "Credit Cycles with Market Based Household Leverage," 2019 Meeting Papers 162, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    10. Ricardo J Caballero & Emmanuel Farhi, 2018. "The Safety Trap," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 85(1), pages 223-274.
    11. He, Zhiguo & Nagel, Stefan & Song, Zhaogang, 2022. "Treasury inconvenience yields during the COVID-19 crisis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(1), pages 57-79.
    12. Ricardo J Caballero & Alp Simsek, 2020. "A Risk-Centric Model of Demand Recessions and Speculation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 135(3), pages 1493-1566.
    13. Alan Moreira & Alexi Savov, 2014. "The Macroeconomics of Shadow Banking," NBER Working Papers 20335, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Benigno, Pierpaolo & Robatto, Roberto, 2019. "Private money creation, liquidity crises, and government interventions," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 42-58.
    15. Begenau, Juliane, 2020. "Capital requirements, risk choice, and liquidity provision in a business-cycle model," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(2), pages 355-378.
    16. Diamond, William & Landvoigt, Tim, 2022. "Credit cycles with market-based household leverage," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(2), pages 726-753.
    17. Ozdagli, Ali & Velikov, Mihail, 2020. "Show me the money: The monetary policy risk premium," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(2), pages 320-339.
    18. Nicolas Caramp, 2021. "Sowing the Seeds of Financial Crises: Endogenous Asset Creation and Adverse Selection," Working Papers 342, University of California, Davis, Department of Economics.
    19. Felipe S. Iachan & Plamen T. Nenov & Alp Simsek, 2021. "The Choice Channel of Financial Innovation," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 13(2), pages 333-372, April.
    20. Segura, Anatoli & Villacorta, Alonso, 2023. "The paradox of safe asset creation," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 210(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:jfinan:v:75:y:2020:i:6:p:2973-3012. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/afaaaea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.