@misc{discovery10186749, note = {This version is the version of record. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher's terms and conditions.}, address = {London, UK}, number = {10}, month = {February}, series = {SRC Discussion Paper}, year = {2014}, title = {Diversification and Financial Stability}, publisher = {Systemic Risk Centre, London School of Economics and Political Science}, url = {https://www.systemicrisk.ac.uk/publications/discussion-papers/diversification-and-financial-stability}, abstract = {The recent credit crisis of 2007/08 has raised a debate about the so-called knife-edge properties of financial markets. The paper contributes to the debate shedding light on the controversial relation between risk-diversification and financial stability. We model a financial network where assets held by borrowers to meet their obligations, include claims against other borrowers and securities exogenous to the network. The balance-sheet approach is conjugated with a stochastic setting and by a mean-field approximation the law of motion of the system's fragility is derived. We show that diversification has an ambiguous effect and beyond a certain levels elicits financial instability. Moreover, we find that risk-sharing restrictions create a socially preferable outcome. Our findings have significant implications for future policy recommendation.}, issn = {2054-538X}, author = {Tasca, Paolo and Battiston, Stefano}, keywords = {Naive Diversification, Leverage, Default Probability} }