In a surprise move during a crisis, the ECB excluded Greek Government Bonds from the set of eligible collateral in monetary policy operations. In turn, Greek banks turned to Emergency Liquidity Assistance (ELA) to meet their funding needs. ELA replenished losses from all funding sources,...

Using a sample of bank loans to firms operating in the tourism industry for the period 2010-2015, and regional variation of tourism activities to identify the strategic defaulted firms, we examine the impact of Greek banks consolidation on the firms’ payment behavior. We show that a...

Macroeconomic models that omit the shadow economy systematically mis-forecast and mis-measure the effect of fiscal –in particular tax– policy on economic activity and tax revenue. We add an informal sector to the Bank of Greece DSGE model and use the actual package of fiscal consolidation...

This paper argues that the investment–savings imbalances of households and companies play an important role in determining the probability that an economy experiences a credit-less recovery, following a recession. The investment–savings gap determines the need for “external” finance of...

We document the existence of a global monetary policy factor in sovereign bond yields in a panel of 45 countries, consisting of both developed and emerging economies. This global factor is related to the size of the aggregate balance sheet of the four major central banks (Fed, ECB, Bank of Japan...

We document the existence of a global monetary policy factor in sovereign bond yields, related to the size of the aggregate balance sheet of nine major central banks of developed economies that have implemented programs of large-scale asset purchases. Balance sheet policies of these central...

We explore the economic impact of the pandemic and the importance of real and financial sector linkages in this context. We explicitly model the financial sector and trace its role in propagating the pandemic shocks. We find that the pandemic-induced adverse labour supply shock can have sizable...

This paper examines the role of imported intermediate inputs and credit constraints on exports adjustment. For identification, we study an episode of capital controls on outflows that exogenously restricted firms’ ability to pay for imports and the large-scale credit crunch that followed the...

Using a data set of bank loans to Greek firms during the period of the Greek sovereign crisis, we provide empirical evidence that firms affiliated with groups are less likely to default on their bank loan during a credit crunch, compared to stand-alone firms. We show that the lower default risk...

How strong has been the effect of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) on systemic risk in sovereign bond markets? Was the increase in credit spreads relative to triple-A benchmarks which followed the GFC the result of higher sovereign credit risk or the result of a re-pricing that reflected...