Skip to main content

I

  • Reference work entry

1 Idiosyncratic Risk

An unsystematic risk. This risk can be diversified from a portfolio; hence it is also a diversifiable risk. [See also Unsystematic risk]

2 Illiquidity

Illiquidity is the opposite of liquidity; either an asset cannot be converted into cash (e.g., a leased machine cannot be sold to raise cash) or an asset cannot be sold at a reasonable price (e.g., a firm bought a machine for $1 million, but the best offer from another buyer is $100,000). In the latter case, if the firm keeps the asset and uses it, it is worth ten times more than the amount of cash it could raise in a sale in the market.

In the short run, many firms may be illiquid, that is, they may lack cash. They remedy this situation by short-term borrowing. A firm borrows cash to meet its current obligations, knowing that its cash flow will improve in the future. This kind of illiquidity is transitory and is not associated with insolvency or bankruptcy. On the other hand, if a firm faces illiquidity with no...

Keywords

These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (Canada)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   329.00
Price excludes VAT (Canada)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2006 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.

About this entry

Cite this entry

(2006). I. In: Lee, CF., Lee, A.C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Finance. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-26336-6_9

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-26336-6_9

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-387-26284-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-0-387-26336-6

  • eBook Packages: Business and Economics

Publish with us

Policies and ethics