An Experimental Analysis of Contingent Capital with Market-Price Triggers

We report an experiment that evaluates three market-based regimes for triggering the conversion of contingent capital bonds into equity: a Òfixed-triggerÓ regime, where a price threshold triggers mandatory conversion, a ÒregulatorÓ regime, where regulators make conversion decisions based on prices and a Òprediction-marketÓ regime, where regulators also observe a market that predicts conversion. Consistent with theory, we observe inefficiencies and conversion errors in the fixed-trigger and regulator regimes. The prediction market somewhat improves the regulatorÕs performance, but inefficiencies and conversion errors persist. The regulator regime has conversion errors over the widest range of shocks.