We document that European banks charge higher interest rates on loans granted to small and medium-sized firms located in areas at high risk of flooding. At 6 basis points, the average risk premium does not adequately reflect the deterioration of loan performance in the aftermath of flood...

Biodiversity loss can have direct economic impacts, as it limits the availability of natural resources and increases costs across various industries. When firms face significant risks due to biodiversity loss, their creditworthiness may be jeopardized. This raises concerns for lending...

Climate change entails risks to the global economy and impacts financial stability. Beyond managing related risks, the financial sector can also contribute to the transition toward a net-zero economy. Guided by the ECB's climate and nature plan1 , this paper discusses the methodology and key...

In response to the two waves of Covid-19 in 2020, the Italian government implemented a general lockdown in March, but geographically targeted policies during fall. We exploit this natural experiment to compare the effects of the two policies in a difference-in-differences design, leveraging a...

This study exploits individual data from the 8th wave of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) and the SHARE Corona Survey to investigate the mental health consequences of COVID-19 job disruption across different European countries. It focuses on older workers (aged 50...

The main problem facing policymakers during the corona virus pandemic is how to mitigate its humanitarian and economic costs. Doing so invariably involves trading off some costs against others as well as short-term against longer-term consequences. We provide an overview of economic literature...