We estimate a structural econometric model for the credit market in Italy, using bank-level information and the responses of Italian banks to the euro-area Bank Lending Survey to identify demand and supply, focusing on the recent financial crisis. The main results are the following. First, while...

This paper analyzes firms� difficulties in accessing credit before and during the crisis, by focusing on two of their characteristics: financial fragility and growth prospects. Our econometric analysis indicates that fragile financial conditions were associated with a much higher than...

Trade credit arises from delayed payments between firms. It is not easy to identify its determinants since they are connected to organisational,technical, commercial and financial factors.In this paper we empirically examine the determinants of the usage of trade credit by Italian industrial...

By allowing median voter�s location and preferred policy to change over time, a variety of redistributive policies results in the long-run with no unique relationship to inequality. Single outcome depends on the interaction between the pure economic structure and policy action in...

Guarantees play an important role in debt contracts. They alter the risk for the lender, transform borrowers� incentives and, possibly, modify the equilibrium allocation of financial resources. This paper studies the role of guarantees on bank loans, using a sample of over 50,000 individual...

A prolonged period of low inflation, particularly in a situation of monetary policy rates near the zero lower bound, can heighten the risk of inflation expectations de-anchoring from the central bank objective. The purpose of this paper is to assess the effects of a sequence of deflationary...

The paper examines the link between the precision of the available monetary policy indicators and the determinacy of equilibrium in a forward-looking macroeconomic model with partial information and an optimizing central bank. When the information on endogenous variables is not precise enough,...