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Applying a difference-in-differences empirical strategy, they show that the shutdown of AIG's securities lending program in 2008 caused a statistically and economically significant reduction in the market liquidity of corporate bonds predominantly held by AIG. They also show that an important mechanism behind the decrease in corporate bond liquidity was a shift towards relatively small trades among a greater number of dealers in the interdealer market.
The financial crisis of 2007-09 kindled a wider interest in studies of liquidity in OTC financial markets, such as the corporate bond market. Buyers and sellers in these markets trade without centralised exchanges. The greater time and resources needed to complete trades can impede market liquidity - the ability to transact efficiently. Intermediaries, such as broker-dealers, may emerge to maintain an inventory of securities and to match buyers and sellers. Securities lending markets offer dealers a way to mitigate the consequences of frictions inherent in OTC markets. Authors identify and quantify the importance of securities lending of corporate bonds to market liquidity in the OTC corporate bond market.
They combine data on corporate bond market trades with data on corporate bond lending transactions and data on the individual corporate bond holdings of US insurance companies. Their empirical design carefully controls for the many confounding determinants of market liquidity. They show that the shutdown of AIG's securities lending programme in 2008 caused a reduction in the market liquidity of corporate bonds held predominantly by AIG. They also provide evidence for an important mechanism behind the decrease in corporate bond liquidity: Dealers used the inter-dealer market as an imperfect substitute for the securities lending market. In particular, authors document a shift towards relatively small trades with other dealers in the inter-dealer market.