Deposit Insurance: An Outmoded Lifeboat for Today's Sea of Liquidity?

50 Pages Posted: 5 Jan 2002

See all articles by Akash Deep

Akash Deep

Harvard University - Harvard Kennedy School (HKS)

Guido K. Schaefer

Vienna University of Economics & Business Administration - Department of Economics

Date Written: March 1, 2001

Abstract

Recent changes in financial markets have altered the structure of liquidity provision and thus undercut the relative importance of the banking sector. Our analysis suggests a significant contraction of banks' role as liquidity transformers and hence a reduction in their susceptibility to the specific risks of liquidity transformation, including systemic runs due to contagious spillovers. This contraction is confirmed by an analysis of liquidity at the individual bank level using a liquidity measure that we develop. We use this measure to quantify the marginal contribution of deposit insurance to liquidity enhancement. We conclude that neither insurance against liquidity risk, nor other rationales relating to equity, legitimacy and stability withstands closer scrutiny as a valid explanation for the provision of deposit insurance by the government.

JEL Classification: G21, G28

Suggested Citation

Deep, Akash and Schaefer, Guido K., Deposit Insurance: An Outmoded Lifeboat for Today's Sea of Liquidity? (March 1, 2001). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=295760 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.295760

Akash Deep (Contact Author)

Harvard University - Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) ( email )

79 John F. Kennedy Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States
617-495-1340 (Phone)
617-496-6372 (Fax)

Guido K. Schaefer

Vienna University of Economics & Business Administration - Department of Economics ( email )

Augasse 2-6
A-1090 Wien
Austria
+43 1 313 36 4579 (Phone)

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