Measuring Systemic Risk

49 Pages Posted: 1 Mar 2012

See all articles by Viral V. Acharya

Viral V. Acharya

New York University (NYU) - Leonard N. Stern School of Business; New York University (NYU) - Department of Finance; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI); National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Lasse Heje Pedersen

AQR Capital Management, LLC; Copenhagen Business School - Department of Finance; New York University (NYU); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Thomas Philippon

New York University (NYU) - Department of Finance; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Matthew P. Richardson

Department of Finance, Leonard N. Stern School of Business, New York University

Multiple version iconThere are 3 versions of this paper

Date Written: February 2012

Abstract

We present a simple model of systemic risk and we show that each financial institution's contribution to systemic risk can be measured as its systemic expected shortfall (SES), i.e., its propensity to be undercapitalized when the system as a whole is undercapitalized. SES increases with the institution's leverage and with its expected loss in the tail of the system's loss distribution. Institutions internalize their externality if they are ‘taxed’ based on their SES. We demonstrate empirically the ability of SES to predict emerging risks during the financial crisis of 2007-2009, in particular, (i) the outcome of stress tests performed by regulators; (ii) the decline in equity valuations of large financial firms in the crisis; and, (iii) the widening of their credit default swap spreads.

Keywords: bailout, financial regulation, systemic risk, value at risk

JEL Classification: G01, G18

Suggested Citation

Acharya, Viral V. and Acharya, Viral V. and Pedersen, Lasse Heje and Philippon, Thomas and Richardson, Matthew P., Measuring Systemic Risk (February 2012). CEPR Discussion Paper No. DP8824, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2013815

Viral V. Acharya (Contact Author)

New York University (NYU) - Leonard N. Stern School of Business ( email )

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HOME PAGE: http://www.stern.nyu.edu/~vacharya

New York University (NYU) - Department of Finance ( email )

Stern School of Business
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New York, NY 10012-1126
United States

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) ( email )

London
United Kingdom

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National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) ( email )

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Lasse Heje Pedersen

AQR Capital Management, LLC ( email )

Greenwich, CT
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Copenhagen Business School - Department of Finance ( email )

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Denmark

New York University (NYU) ( email )

Stern School of Business
44 West 4th Street
New York, NY 10012-1126
United States

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) ( email )

London
United Kingdom

Thomas Philippon

New York University (NYU) - Department of Finance ( email )

Stern School of Business
44 West 4th Street
New York, NY 10012-1126
United States

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Matthew P. Richardson

Department of Finance, Leonard N. Stern School of Business, New York University ( email )

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