Direct European Central Bank intervention in the market for asset-backed securities (ABS) has the potential to become, under certain conditions, a mechanism to unlock credit markets in the euro area. When and how the ECB acts will be significant. Acting immediately to purchase existing eligible...

As policymakers refocus on growth, the ability to take a firm-level view is key to disentangling the various factors at the root of competitiveness, and thus to designing appropriate policies. Firm-level data provides critical information for the design of appropriate competitiveness measures...

Most European Union countries have made good progress with vaccinating their populations against COVID-19 and are now seeing a rebound in economic activity. While the scarring effects of the crisis and the long-term implications of the pandemic are only partially understood, the effects of...