Since the 1980s, the characteristics model in economics has been applied to the field of finance, and offers a fresh perspective for understanding financial behaviour. It has enabled the analyst and the investor to explore the characteristics of financial products, such as expected return, risk and future marketability, as a dimension distinct from the substance of the product itself. The first part of the volume explores the theoretical implications of such an approach. It examines: the characteristics model of portfolio behaviour and asset pricing the characteristics model as a unifying framework for analysing financial markets, financial intermediaton and the process of financial innovation. The remainder of the volume focuses on empirical applications of the characteristics model, including: computation of interest equivalence for nonprice characteristics of bank products analysis of financial innovations in short-term retail financial products. The book therefore represents an invaluable asset for both the specialist financial economist, and the generalist economist seeking original source material.