Diversification at financial institutions and systemic crises

W.B. Wagner

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

196 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

It is widely believed that diversification at financial institutions benefits the stability of the financial system. This paper shows that it also entails a cost: even though diversification reduces each institution’s individual probability of failure, it makes systemic crises more likely. When systemic crises induce additional costs (over and above individual failures), full diversification is no longer desirable as a result and the optimal degree of diversification may be arbitrarily low. We show that the analysis can be extended beyond diversification, such as to interbank insurance and financial integration.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)373-386
JournalJournal of Financial Intermediation
Volume19
Issue number3
Publication statusPublished - 2010

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Diversification at financial institutions and systemic crises'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this