Are all banking crises alike? The Japanese experience in international comparison

This paper examines episodes of banking sector distress for a large sample of developed and developing countries, highlighting the experience of Japan. We estimate a multivariate probit model that links the likelihood of banking problems to a set of macroeconomic variables and institutional characteristics. The model predicts a high probability of banking sector distress in Japan in the early 1990s. The likelihood of an episode of banking distress rose in line with the sharp drop in asset prices, deepening recession and a "moral hazard" problem (financial liberalization combined with explicit deposit insurance). (C) 1999 Academic Press. Journal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers: E44, G21, O16.