Banks are a vital part of the economy because they provide an important channel through which many businesses get their financing. However, as we know from the history of the United States and other countries, banks can be subject to runs and panics. A panic that encompasses a large part of the banking system can seriously disrupt economic activity. During a run, a bank experiences much heavier...

Four primary care sites in the United States constitute "medical home runs" because their patients incur 15-20 percent less (risk-adjusted) total health care spending per year than patients treated by regional peers, without evidence of reduced quality. The sites achieved this result in a U.S. payment environment that usually penalizes physicians who invest to prevent costly near-term health cr...

We analyze a banking system in which the class of feasible deposit contracts, or mechanisms, is broad. The mechanisms must satisfy a sequential service constraint, but partial or full suspension of convertibility is allowed. Consumers must be willing to deposit, ex ante. We show, by examples, that under the socalled “optimal contract,” the post-deposit game can have a run equilibrium. Given a p...

Our paper offers a minimalist model of a run on a financial market. The prime ingredient is that each risk-neutral investor fears having to liquidate after a run, but before prices can recover back to fundamental values. During the run, only the risk-averse market-making sector is willing to absorb shares. To avoid having to possibly liquidate shares at themarginal post-run price—in which case ...