In the United States, antitrust authorities rely heavily on numerical measures of local banking market concentration such as the Herfindahl Hirschmann Index to assess the likely competitive effects of proposed bank mergers and acquisitions. This approach to antitrust enforcement relies on two...

We model the relationship between market power and both loan interest rates and bank risk without placing strong restrictions on the moral hazard problems between borrowers and banks, and between banks and a government guarantor. Our results suggest that these relationships hinge on intuitive...

In analyzing the competitive effects of proposed bank mergers and acquisitions, United States antitrust authorities rely on two important assumptions: (1) that markets for at least some types of banking products are local in scope, and (2) that market concentration measures can serve as...

This paper uses novel data on the performance of pools underlying asset- backed securities to estimate a competing risks model of default and prepayment on subprime automobile loans. We find that prepayment rates increase rapidly with loan age but are not affected by prevailing market interest...

This paper uses novel data on the performance of loan pools underlying asset-backed securities to estimate a competing risks model of default and prepayment on subprime automobile loans. We find that prepayment rates increase rapidly with loan age but are not affected by prevailing market...