This paper provides new estimates of cost scale economies for Italian banks, based on a model of bank production that takes into account a comprehensive definition of output including different categories of loans, deposits, off-balance sheet items, payment services, and brokerage and asset...

Interchange fees (IF) are fees that a cardholder's bank (issuer) receives from the merchant's bank (acquirer) when a card payment is executed. Interchange fees are an important part of the fees charged to merchants by acquirers. Because of their level and fragmentation, interchange fees can...

We analyse the wide array of rescue programmes adopted in several countries, following Lehman Brothers' default in September 2008, in order to support banks and other financial institutions. We first provide an overview of the programmes, comparing their characteristics, magnitudes and...

The aim of this survey is to provide a rigorous, but not so technical, introduction to several systemic risk indicators frequently used in official publications by institutions involved in macroprudential analysis and policy. The selected indicators are classified using three taxonomies. The...

The aim of this survey is to provide a rigorous, but not so technical, introduction to several systemic risk indicators frequently used in official publications by institutions involved in macroprudential analysis and policy. The selected indicators are classified using three taxonomies. The...

Economic activity is concentrated in urban areas and during the 20th century the urban population grew at a faster rate than the national average in many countries. Why is this the case? In this paper we focus on the urban premium in firms' productivity. We run two exercises. First, we document...

We analyse the evolution of capital and labour (mis)allocation across firms in five euro-area countries (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy and Spain) and eight main sectors of the economy during the period 2002-2012. Three key stylized facts stand out. First, in all countries except Germany,...

We apply a growth accounting approach to estimate the contribution to potential output growth in Italy by firms with different characteristics. We do so by exploiting time series obtained by aggregating individual firm data. Results show that during the double-dip recession smaller firms...

Italian Abstract: Questo lavoro presenta una metodologia per ricostruire la spesa energetica delle imprese manifatturiere italiane con almeno 20 addetti per il periodo 2003-2011. Si utilizzano una pluralità di fonti per imputare i consumi fisici di energia a livello di impresa nell'archivio...

Italian Abstract: La qualità dell’approvvigionamento energetico costituisce un importante fattore di competitività per le imprese e di benessere per le famiglie. Analizzando i divari sul territorio italiano nella continuità della fornitura elettrica, il lavoro mostra come, in media per...