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...

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...

This study examines the relationship between securitization and loan performance using proprietary loan-level data from a Chinese bank. Securitized loans exhibit lower ex-post default rates and prepayment chances compared to the loans retained on the bank's balance sheet, suggesting no adverse...

The credit gap in this study is given by the financing needs of firms that are bankable but discouraged from applying for a loan. To quantify the credit gap, we combine a scoring model that assesses the creditworthiness of discouraged firms with a credit allocation rule. Our study covers 35...

Firms' contractual relations with a state may give lenders a positive signal and facilitate access to debt. This paper studies the impact of public procurement contracts on ftrms' access to debt using an extensive survey of Russian manufacturing ftrms combined with accounting and procurement...

We document the investment and financing decisions of firms that experience monetary losses due to extreme weather events. Our sample covers firms operating in 41 economies, mainly emerging and developing markets. Consistent with the need to either replenish damaged capital or to adapt to...

This paper analyzes the potential effect of a European Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) on banks' profitability. We use a large sample of EU banks that span the period from 2007 to 2021 to assess the sensitivity of banks' profits to the deposits. Using quantile regression, we estimate the...