This paper examines the recent behavior of sovereign interest rates in the euro area, focusing on the 10 year yield spreads relative to Germany for Italy and other euro area countries. Both previous analyses and the new evidence presented in the paper suggest that, in recent months, for several...

Since the outbreak of the financial crisis in 2007, the level and volatility of Euribor – OIS differentials have increased significantly. According to the extant literature, this variability is mainly explained by credit and liquidity risk premia. I provide evidence that part of the...

The financing structure of the euro area economy has evolved since the global financial crisis with non-bank financial intermediation taking a more prominent role. This shift affects the transmission of monetary policy. Compared with banks, non-bank financial intermediaries are more responsive...

The ratio between current earnings per share and share price (the EP ratio) is widely considered to be an effective gauge of under/over-valuation of a corporation's stock. Arguably, a more reliable indicator (the cyclically-adjusted EP ratio) can be obtained by replacing current earnings with a...

We propose a methodology to build and validate a composite indicator of the market liquidity of euro-area sovereign bonds. The indicator aggregates several metrics from different trading venues, with the aim of providing a comprehensive measurement of prevailing bond-market liquidity conditions...