Redemption Costs and Interest Rates under the U.S. National Banking System
研究美国国民银行体系（1863-1914）期间，银行票据赎回成本如何解释政府债券收益率与票据发行税率之间的利差以及短期利率的季节性波动，通过模型校准支持其理论。
Interest rates under the U.S . National Banking System ( 1863 -1914) appear to imply that banks failed to exploit an arbitrage opportunity for two reasons: Yields on government bonds exceeded the tax rate on note issue by approximately 150 basis points, and short-term interest rates varied seasonally. This paper examines whether note redemption costs can explain observed interest rates. We present a model in which redemption costs create a spread between the tax rate on note issue and bond yields and in which temporary seasonal fluctuations in currency demand generate seasonal movements in short-term interest rates. Calibration of the model to actual data lends support to the model's implications. Further, interest rates are shown not to vary seasonally when banks do not incur the costs of note redemption. THE BANKING SYSTEM that existed in the United States between 1863 and 1914 the so-called National Banking System is unique in U.S. history. Under this system, private commercial banks (national banks) were permitted to issue payable-on-demand liabilities (banknotes) that were required to be fully collateralized by government bonds and that carried an explicit government guarantee against noteholder loss should the issuing bank fail. Banks were taxed based on the quantity of their notes in circulation, and each bani had to redeem its own notes at par in (specie or greenbacks). The National Banking System gave rise to a national currency because each bank was required to accept the notes of other national banks at par. A bank holding notes issued by another bank could redeem those notes at par in lawful money through redemption centers established by the U.S. Treasury, with the costs of redemption borne by the issuing bank. During the period of the National Banking System observed interest rates were characterized by two features. First, yields on intermediated government bonds ex