| Issue |
EPL
Volume 105, Number 3, February 2014
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Article Number | 38004 | |
| Number of page(s) | 6 | |
| Section | Interdisciplinary Physics and Related Areas of Science and Technology | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1209/0295-5075/105/38004 | |
| Published online | 26 February 2014 | |
Credit risk and the instability of the financial system: An ensemble approach
Fakultät für Physik, Universität Duisburg-Essen - Duisburg, Germany, EU
Received: 18 November 2013
Accepted: 5 February 2014
The instability of the financial system as experienced in recent years and in previous periods is often linked to credit defaults, i.e., to the failure of obligors to make promised payments. Given the large number of credit contracts, this problem is amenable to be treated with approaches developed in statistical physics. We introduce the idea of ensemble averaging and thereby uncover generic features of credit risk. We then show that the often advertised concept of diversification, i.e., reducing the risk by distributing it, is deeply flawed when it comes to credit risk. The risk of extreme losses remains due to the ever present correlations, implying a substantial and persistent intrinsic danger to the financial system.
PACS: 89.65.Gh – Economics; econophysics, financial markets, business and management / 89.75.-k – Complex systems / 05.45.-a – Nonlinear dynamics and chaos
© EPLA, 2014
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