The goal of this study is the derivation and application of a direct characterization of the inverse of the covariance matrix central to portfolio analysis. As argued below, such a specification, in terms of a few primitive constructs, provides new and illuminating expressions for such key...

In late 1993 and early 1994, the wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary of a German conglomerate experienced substantial losses in connection with the implementation of a petroleum marketing strategy, triggering an emergency recapitalization of the German parent company. The rescue was overseen by the...

We investigate the role of "country risk" in determining the default risk of firms in emerging markets. In particular, we study the relationship between the secondary market spreads (over hard-currency government bond yields) of bonds issued by emerging market firms and bonds issued by their...

This paper develops a model of bank behavior that focuses on the interaction between the incentives created by fixed-rate deposit insurance and a bank's choice of its loan portfolio and its market-traded financial instruments. The model is used to analyze the consequences of the Federal Reserve...