The Emergence and Persistence of the Anglo-Saxon and German Financial Systems

We use a moral hazard model to compare monitored (nontraded)bank loans and traded (nonmonitored) bonds as sources of externalfunds for industry. We contrast the theoretical conditions thatfavor each system with the historical conditions prevailingwhen these financial systems evolved during the British andGerman industrial revolutions. To study persistence, we consideran entry model where financiers take the industrial structureas given when they lend and firms take the financial systemas given when they borrow. We show multiple equilibria can exist,compare equilibria in welfare terms, and discuss their robustnessto coordination between lenders and borrowers.