Risk Pooling, Leverage, and the Business Cycle

73 Pages Posted: 16 Jun 2020

See all articles by Pietro Dindo

Pietro Dindo

Ca Foscari University of Venice - Dipartimento di Economia

Andrea Modena

University of Mannheim

Loriana Pelizzon

Goethe University Frankfurt - Faculty of Economics and Business Administration; Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE; Ca Foscari University of Venice - Dipartimento di Economia

Multiple version iconThere are 4 versions of this paper

Date Written: February 2020

Abstract

This paper studies the impact of financial sector size and leverage on the business cycle and risk-free rates dynamics. We develop a general equilibrium model of a productive economy where financial intermediaries provide costly risk mitigation to households by pooling the idiosyncratic risks of their investment activities. In contrast to previous studies, we show that intermediaries not only amplify the variations of relative wealth between sectors, but may also mitigate business cycle fluctuations, while providing households with a risk-free asset whose real return is pro-cyclical and possibly negative. Households benefit the most when the financial sector is neither too small, thus avoiding high consumption fluctuations and costly risk mitigation, nor too big, so that fewer resources are lost after intermediation costs.

Keywords: amplification, business cycle, financial frictions, leverage, risk pooling

JEL Classification: E130, E320, E690, G120

Suggested Citation

Dindo, Pietro and Modena, Andrea and Pelizzon, Loriana, Risk Pooling, Leverage, and the Business Cycle (February 2020). CESifo Working Paper No. 7772, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3432820 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3432820

Pietro Dindo (Contact Author)

Ca Foscari University of Venice - Dipartimento di Economia ( email )

Cannaregio 873
Venice, 30121
Italy

Andrea Modena

University of Mannheim ( email )

L 7, 3-5
Mannheim, 68161
Germany
01601420817 (Phone)
60487 (Fax)

Loriana Pelizzon

Goethe University Frankfurt - Faculty of Economics and Business Administration ( email )

Theodor-W.-Adorno-Platz 3
Frankfurt am Main, D-60323
Germany

Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE ( email )

Theodor-W.-Adorno-Platz 3
Frankfurt am Main, 60323
Germany

HOME PAGE: http://www.safe-frankfurt.de

Ca Foscari University of Venice - Dipartimento di Economia ( email )

Cannaregio 873
Venice, 30121
Italy

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