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 analyze the main forces affecting financial system pro-cyclicality (the fact that developments in the financial sector can amplify business cycle fluctuations). We first review some major structural developments in financial markets that may influence pro-cyclicality and that have been...

This paper analyses the interactions between financial regulation and crises with reference to the experience of the United States in the period after the global financial crisis up to the COVID-19 emergency. In the last few years, a new regulatory system for large banks has arisen in the U.S.,...

Financial globalisation brings a number of benefits but can also increase the risk of financial crisis. In recent years, to reduce these risks to stability, countries have reformed financial regulation, enhanced frameworks for central bank liquidity provision and developed new elements, and...

More than three years since the outbreak of the sovereign debt crisis in the euro area the banking systems of several countries remain exposed to the vagaries of government bond markets. The paper analyzes the different channels through which sovereign risk affects banking risk (and vice versa),...

This paper studies the sudden stop in capital flows that emerging markets experienced throughout the first months of the pandemic. First, we find that the sudden stop in capital flows was strongly affected by lower portfolio investments by non-bank financial intermediaries: for many emerging...

This paper proposes a policy framework for intercepting, monitoring and containing the unintended harmful effects of financial innovation. The current approach, adopted by several authorities, makes extensive use of the tools of transparency and disclosure, mainly for consumer protection. It has...

Since the late eighties the Italian National Health System, in particular hospital care, has undergone deep reforms. This paper evaluates the technical efficiency of Italian public hospitals in light of the main features of the hospital system at a regional level. The evaluation was carried out...

Over the last decade two reforms have affected the Italian hospital system, one introducing market mechanisms, the other concerning the tools of planning and expense control assigned to the regional governments. The paper summarizes these institutional changes and describes the evolution of the...