This document discusses duration, a model for measuring interest rate risk. Duration is a measure of how the price of a bond or loan will change in response to changes in interest rates. It represents the weighted average time until cash flows are received. Longer maturity bonds and loans have higher durations, meaning their prices are more sensitive to interest rate changes. Bonds with higher coupons have lower durations. Duration can be used to immunize a financial institution's balance sheet against interest rate risk by matching asset and liability durations.