Why Do Banks Promise to Pay Par on Demand?

FRB of Atlanta Working Paper No. 2006-26

43 Pages Posted: 4 Dec 2006

See all articles by Gerald P. Dwyer

Gerald P. Dwyer

Clemson University; Australian National University (ANU) - Centre for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis (CAMA)

Margarita Samartín Sáenz

Universidad Carlos III de Madrid

Date Written: November 2006

Abstract

We survey the theories of why banks promise to pay par on demand and examine evidence about the conditions under which banks have promised to pay the par value of deposits and banknotes on demand when holding only fractional reserves. The theoretical literature can be broadly divided into four strands: liquidity provision, asymmetric information, legal restrictions, and a medium of exchange. We assume that it is not zero cost to make a promise to redeem a liability at par value on demand. If so, then the conditions in the theories that result in par redemption are possible explanations of why banks promise to pay par on demand. If the explanation based on customers' demand for liquidity is correct, payment of deposits at par will be promised when banks hold assets that are illiquid in the short run. If the asymmetric-information explanation based on the difficulty of valuing assets is correct, the marketability of banks' assets determines whether banks promise to pay par. If the legal restrictions explanation of par redemption is correct, banks will not promise to pay par if they are not required to do so. If the transaction explanation is correct, banks will promise to pay par value only if the deposits are used in transactions. After the survey of the theoretical literature, we examine the history of banking in several countries in different eras: fourth-century Athens, medieval Italy, Japan, and free banking and money market mutual funds in the United States. We find that all of the theories can explain some of the observed banking arrangements, and none explain all of them.

Keywords: banking panics, suspension of payments, banking history

JEL Classification: G21, E5

Suggested Citation

Dwyer, Gerald P. and Samartín Sáenz, Margarita, Why Do Banks Promise to Pay Par on Demand? (November 2006). FRB of Atlanta Working Paper No. 2006-26, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=948721 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.948721

Gerald P. Dwyer (Contact Author)

Clemson University ( email )

Department of Economics
Clemson University
Clemson, SC 29634
United States

Australian National University (ANU) - Centre for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis (CAMA) ( email )

ANU College of Business and Economics
Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 0200
Australia

Margarita Samartín Sáenz

Universidad Carlos III de Madrid ( email )

E-28903 Getafe (Madrid)
Spain

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