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Leverage and Asset Prices: An Experiment

Author

Listed:
  • Marco Cipriani

    (International Monetary Fund and New York Federal Reserve Bank)

  • Ana Fostel

    (Department of Economics, George Washington University)

  • Daniel Houser

    (Interdisciplinary Center for Economic Science and Department of Economics, George Mason University)

Abstract

This is the first paper to test the asset pricing implication of leverage in a laboratory. We show that as theory predicts, leverage increases asset prices: when an asset can be used as collateral (i.e., when the asset can be bought on margin), its price goes up. This increase is significant, and quantitatively close to what theory predicts. However, important deviations from the theory arise in the laboratory. First, the demand for the asset shifts when it can be used as a collateral, even though agents do not exhaust their purchasing power when collateralized borrowing is not allowed. Second, the spread between collateralizable and non-collateralizable assets does not increase during crises in contrast to what theory predicts. Length: 38

Suggested Citation

  • Marco Cipriani & Ana Fostel & Daniel Houser, 2012. "Leverage and Asset Prices: An Experiment," Working Papers 1033, George Mason University, Interdisciplinary Center for Economic Science.
    • Handle: RePEc:gms:wpaper:1033
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    Cited by:

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    4. Bengui, Julien & Phan, Toan, 2018. "Asset pledgeability and endogenously leveraged bubbles," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 177(C), pages 280-314.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Leverage; Asset Pricing; Experimental Economics;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A10 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - General
    • C90 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - General
    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates

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