We construct representative firm-level longitudinal data for twenty-seven European countries using financial statements from the Orbis global database, providing a “how-to” guide on the construction. We validate our dataset by comparing its aggregate coverage to official statis- tics and...

After the inception of the euro, the real economy in most member countries remained dependent on credit by domestic banks, which increasingly funded themselves through cross-border interbank funding. We find that this pattern of 'double-decker' banking integration exposed domestic banks to sharp...

We study the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on total factor productivity (TFP) of domestic firms using a new, representative firm-level data set spanning six countries. A novel finding is that firm-level spillovers from foreign firms to domestic companies can be significantly...

EMU was a major step towards deeper financial integration among member states. However, diversification of equity portfolios remained limited while banking integration surged. We argue that the nature of banking integration is of first-order importance for understanding the patterns and channels...