The goal of this paper is to investigate the link between the length of a firm-bank relationship and firm's internationalization. The analysis is carried out on matched firm-bank micro-data from a survey of Italian enterprises from 1998 to 2003. We obtain two main results. First, a longer...

This work focuses on the recent literature - started by the seminal article of Ang and Piazzesi (2003) - aimed at developing macro-finance models that combine finance specifications of the term structure of interest rates with standard macroeconomic aggregate relationships for output and...

In this paper we study the functioning of the Italian public guarantee fund (“Fondo Centrale di Garanzia”, FCG) for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Using an instrumental variable strategy, based on FCG eligibility, we investigate whether the guarantee generated additional loans and/or...

The effectiveness of monetary policy - i.e. its capacity to maintain a low rate of inflation without adverse effects on employment - crucially depends on the credibility of the Central Bank. According to Blinder (2000), this amounts to the reputation that has been earned through a consistent...

Several alternative explanations have been put forward to explain what has been named the quot;mysteryquot; of the weak Euro, after it started. We test a new hypothesis which is based on the historical process leading to the new European currency. It was necessary to convince the German public...