Policymakers justify bailing out major financial firms by saying those firms are 'too big to fail.' They argue that such failure would subject the market to 'counterparty contagion' as the failed firms default on their obligations to other firms. But empirical evidence indicates that...

We investigate liquidity shocks and shocks to fundamentals during financial crises at commercial banks, investment banks, and hedge funds. Liquidity shock amplification models assume that widespread funding problems cause fire sales. We find that most banks do not experience funding declines...

The Lehman bankruptcy highlights the potential for interconnectedness to cause negative externalities through counterparty contagion, but the externalities may also arise from information contagion. We examine contagion from troubled financial firms and find that counterparty contagion is...

During the subprime crisis, the Federal Reserve introduced several emergency liquidity programs as supplements to the discount window: TAF, PDCF, and TSLF. Using data on loans to large commercial banks and primary dealers, we find that the programs were used by relatively few institutions and...

We evaluate changes in investment bank balance sheets during financial crises to determine how these firms respond to funding shocks. Most investment banks maintain funding levels during these downturns, suggesting that liquidity shocks are not a trigger for their financial troubles. Among the...

Using a comprehensive dataset of hedge fund 13F filings, we analyze hedge fund trading from 1998-2010 to determine if investor redemptions cause fire sales and stock market disruptions. We find evidence of hedge fund fire sales in the two quarters with the worst stock market performance. During...

The Lehman bankruptcy highlights the potential for interconnectedness among financial firms to cause a financial crisis. Previous research shows that Chapter 11 filings cause significant negative externalities, consistent with a strong role for counterparty contagion. However, the effects may...