Central to the ability of a high frequency trader to make money is speed. In order to be first to trading opportunities firms invest in the fastest hardware and the shortest connections between their machines and the markets. This, however, is not enough, algorithms must be short, no more than a...

Increasing inter-bank lending has an ambiguous impact on financial stability. Using a computational model with endogenous bank behavior and interest rates we identify the conditions under which inter-bank lending promotes stability through risk sharing or provides a channel through which...

This paper develops a hierarchical principal-agent model to explore the influence of corruption, bribery, and politically provided oversight of production on the efficiency and level of output of some publicly provided good. Under full information, an honest politician acheives the first best...

Using a suitably modified locational model of banking, we examine the influence of institutions, such as deposit contract enforcement, in explaining the share of government owned banks in the banking system. We present cross-country evidence suggesting that institutional factors are relatively...

This paper considers the stability of a financial system in which heterogenous banks interact through a lending market. We analyse a discrete time model in which households and banks are located on a circular city. Households present banks with risky investment opportunities, which banks fund...