Pricing free bank notes
研究美国内战前银行发行的私人货币（银行券）的定价，考虑铁路技术变革的影响，用北美所有银行的月度价格和旅行指南数据检验市场是否合理定价风险，发现市场纪律抑制了野猫银行行为。
During the pre-Civil War period, US banks issued distinct private monies, called bank notes. A bank note is a perpetual, risky, non-interest-bearing, debt claim with the right to redeem on demand at par in specie. This paper investigates the pricing of this private money taking into account the enormous changes in technology during the period, namely, the introduction and rapid diffusion of the railroad. A contingent claims pricing model for bank notes is proposed and tested using monthly bank note prices for all banks in North America together with indices of the durations and costs of trips back to issuing banks constructed from pre-Civil War travelers' guides. Evidence is produced that market participants properly priced the risks inherent in these securities, suggesting that wildcat banking was not common because of market discipline.