Assessing financial contagion in the interbank market: Maximum entropy versus observed interbank lending patterns

Interbank markets allow banks to cope with specific liquidity shocks. At the same time, they may be a channel allowing a bank default to spread to other banks. This paper analyzes how contagion propagates within the Italian interbank market using a unique data set including actual bilateral exposures. Since information on bilateral exposures was not available in most previous studies, they assumed that banks spread their lending as evenly as possible among all the other banks by maximizing the entropy of interbank linkages. Based on the data available on actual bilateral exposures for all Italian banks, the results obtained by assuming the maximum entropy are compared with those reflecting the observed structure of interbank claims. The comparison indicates that, in line with the thesis prevailing in the literature, the maximum entropy method tends to underestimate the extent of contagion. However, this does not hold in general. Under certain circumstances, depending on the structure of the interbank linkages, the recovery rates of interbank exposures and banksÂ’ capitalization, the maximum entropy approach overestimates the scope for contagion.interbank market, financial contagion, systemic risk, maximum entropy

Bridging the gap between migrants and the banking system

In this paper, we test whether micro firms run by migrants pay more for credit than firms run by natives and whether the differences in the cost of credit for these two groups of entrepreneurs decrease as the informational and cultural gaps narrow. We employ a large and unique data set providing us with detailed information on each overdraft loan granted by banks to sole proprietorships based in Italy. We find that migrants pay, on average, almost 70 basis points more for credit than natives. The interest rate differential is lower for entrepreneurs born in Italy whose parents were natives of other countries (“second generation” migrants) and for migrants whose parents were natives of Italy (“Italian migrants”). These results suggest that cultural differences may matter for the functioning of the credit market. A lengthening of credit history reduces the interest rate differential between the two types of entrepreneurs. Finally, we find that both increases in the size of the migrant community and improvements in banks’ ability to deal with cultural diversity help narrow the interest rate differential between migrant and Italian entrepreneurs.migration, bank lending, interest rates

Bridging the gap between migrants and the banking system.

In this paper, we address two related issues. First, we test whether micro firms run by migrants pay more for credit than firms run by native entrepreneurs. Second, we verify whether the differences in the cost of credit between these two groups of entrepreneurs decrease as long as the informational and cultural gap narrow. To this aim we employ a large and unique data set providing us with detailed information about each overdraft loan granted by banks to sole proprietorships based in Italy. We find that firms run by migrants pay, on average, almost 70 basis points more for credit than those run by entrepreneurs born in Italy. The interest rate differential is lower for entrepreneurs born in Italy whose parents were natives of other countries (“second generation” migrants) and, among those born abroad, for migrants whose parents were natives of Italy (“Italian migrants”). These results suggest that cultural differences may matter for the functioning of the credit market. A lengthening in credit history may help migrants to “bridge the gap”. We find that, on average, interest rates lower with the length of the credit history. Furthermore, and more importantly from the paper perspective, firms run by migrants benefit more from a repeated interaction with the banking system. Finally, we find that the size of the migrant community and the improvements in bank ability to deal with cultural diversity both contribute to narrow the interest rate differential between migrant and Italian entrepreneurs.credit; financial integration; migration;

Bank Capital and Lending Behaviour: Empirical Evidence for Italy

This paper investigates the existence of cross-sectional differences in the response of lending to monetary policy and GDP shocks owing to a different degree of bank capitalization. The effects on lending of shocks to bank capital that are caused by a specific (higher than 8 per cent) solvency ratio for highly risky banks are also analyzed. The paper adds to the existing literature in three ways. First, it considers a measure of capitalization (the excess capital) that is better able to control for the riskiness of banksÂ’ portfolios than the well-known capital-to-asset ratio. Second, it disentangles the effects of the "bank lending channel" from those of the "bank capital channel" in the case of a monetary shock; it also provides an explanation for asymmetric effects of GDP shocks on lending based on the link between bank capital and risk aversion. Third, it uses a unique dataset of quarterly data for Italian banks over the period 1992-2001; the full coverage of banks and the long sample period helps to overcome some distributional bias detected for other available public datasets. The results indicate that well-capitalized banks can better shield their lending from monetary policy shocks as they have easier access to non-deposit fund-raising consistently with the "bank lending channel" hypothesis. A "bank capital channel" is also detected, with stronger effects for cooperative banks that have a larger maturity mismatch. Capitalization also influences the way banks react to GDP shocks. Again, the credit supply of well-capitalized banks is less pro-cyclical. The introduction of a specific solvency ratio for highly risky banks determines an overall reduction in lending.Basel standards; monetary transmission mechanisms; bank lending; bank capital

Bank heterogeneity and interest rate setting: what lessons have we learned since Lehman Brothers?

A substantial literature has investigated the role of relationship lending in shielding borrowers from idiosyncratic shocks. Much less is known about how lending relationships and bank-specific characteristics affect the functioning of the credit market in an economy-wide crisis, when banks may find it difficult to perform the role of shock absorbers. We investigate how bank-specific characteristics (size, liquidity, capitalization, funding structure) and the bank-firm relationship have influenced interest rate setting since the collapse of Lehman Brothers. Unlike the existing literature, which has focused chiefly on the amount of credit granted during the crisis, we look at its cost. The data on a large sample of loans from Italian banks to non-financial firms suggest that close lending relationships kept firms more insulated from the financial crisis. Further, spreads increased by less for the customers of well-capitalized, liquid banks and those engaged mainly in traditional lending business.bank interest rate setting, lending relationship, bank lending channel, financial crisis.

Do Women Pay More for Credit? Evidence from Italy

The answer is yes. By using a unique and large data set on overdraft contracts between banks and microfirms and self-employed individuals, we find robust evidence that women in Italy pay more for overdraft facilities than men. We could not find any evidence that women are riskier then men. The male/female differential remains even after controlling for a large number of characteristics of the type of business, the borrower and the market structure of the credit market. The result is not driven by women using a different type of bank than men, since the same bank charges different rates to male and female borrowers. Social capital does play a role: high levels of trust loosen credit conditions by lowering interest rates, but this benefit is not evenly distributed, as women benefit from increased social capital less than men.

Bridging the gap between migrants and the banking system.

In this paper, we address two related issues. First, we test whether micro firms run by migrants pay more for credit than firms run by native entrepreneurs. Second, we verify whether the differences in the cost of credit between these two groups of entrepreneurs decrease as long as the informational and cultural gap narrow. To this aim we employ a large and unique data set providing us with detailed information about each overdraft loan granted by banks to sole proprietorships based in Italy. We find that firms run by migrants pay, on average, almost 70 basis points more for credit than those run by entrepreneurs born in Italy. The interest rate differential is lower for entrepreneurs born in Italy whose parents were natives of other countries (“second generation” migrants) and, among those born abroad, for migrants whose parents were natives of Italy (“Italian migrants”). These results suggest that cultural differences may matter for the functioning of the credit market. A lengthening in credit history may help migrants to “bridge the gap”. We find that, on average, interest rates lower with the length of the credit history. Furthermore, and more importantly from the paper perspective, firms run by migrants benefit more from a repeated interaction with the banking system. Finally, we find that the size of the migrant community and the improvements in bank ability to deal with cultural diversity both contribute to narrow the interest rate differential between migrant and Italian entrepreneurs

Acute coronary syndrome and renal impairment: a systematic review

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SARS-CoV-2 Related Myocarditis. What We Know So Far

A minority of patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (COVID-19) develop cardiovascular complications, such as acute cardiac lesions with elevated troponins, de novo systolic heart failure, pericardial effusion and, rarely, acute myocarditis. The prevalence of COVID-19-related myocarditis ranges from 10 to 105 cases per 100,000 COVID-19-infected individuals, with a male predominance (58%) and a median age of 50 years. The etiopathogenetic mechanism is currently unclear, but may involve direct virus-mediated damage or an exaggerated immune response to the virus. Mortality is high, as fulminant myocarditis (FM) develops very often in the form of cardiogenic shock and ventricular arrhythmias. Hence, medical therapy with ACE inhibitors and beta-blockers may not always be sufficient, in which case inotropic and immunosuppressive drugs, most commonly corticosteroids, may be necessary. In this review we analyze the current data on COVID-19 myocarditis, management strategies and therapy, with a brief description of COVID-19 vaccine-associated myocarditis to help clinicians dealing with this peculiar form of myocarditis

The effects of mutual guarantee consortia on the quality of bank lending

In this paper we investigate whether or not mutual guarantee consortia (MGC), a financial institution well developed in Italy, alleviate the difficulties that Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) face when they ask for a bank loan. We find that the probability of a small firm affiliated to a MGC of going into default is lower than that of firms not affiliated to such a consortium. These results indicate that MGCs improve the ability of banks to screen and monitor small firms