This paper examines the role of bond ratings and the effects of rating-based regulations in thecorporate bond market. Exploiting an unanticipated mechanical change in how the benchmarkLehman bond indices are constructed in 2005, we show that rating-induced market segmentationof the bond market...

This paper studies the effects of investors’ heterogeneous beliefs on the trading volume,price volatility, and liquidity of stocks. Following Kurz and Motolese (2008), wepropose a simple theoretical model to show that the equilibrium stock price is linearlyand positively correlated with market...

This paper empirically investigates how the intensity of product market competitionaffects the cost of debt. Using a large sample of loans to publicly traded US manufac-turing fi…rms, I provide evidence that an intensi…fication of product market competitionamong fi…rms signifi…cantly...

We test whether the …´firms systematic equity risk reflects the shareholders´ incen-tives to default strategically on its debt. We use a standard real options model torelate the shareholders´strategic default behavior to frictions in the debt renegotia-tion procedure. We test its predictions...

We argue that there is a connection between the interbank market for liquidity and thebroader financial markets, which has its basis in demand for liquidity by banks. Tightnessin the interbank market for liquidity leads banks to engage in what we term “liquiditypull-back,” which involves...

The study of liquidity in financial markets either invokes the ease with whichfinancial securities can be bought and sold, or addresses the ability to tradewithout triggering important changes in asset prices. More specifically, onecan think of liquidity as an exogenous measure of the added...

I model a financial market that dries out in the wake of premature liquidations.Two main results are obtained. First, liquidity may vanish even if small, riskneutralbuyers could easily compensate the ongoing selling. Thus, more marketsare vulnerable to “runs” than suggested by previous work....

A standard repurchase agreement between two counterpartiesis considered to examine the endogenous choice of collateral, the feasibilityof secured lending, and welfare implications of the central bank’s collateralframework. As an important innovation, we allow for two-sided counterpartyrisk. In...