The derivatives market has experienced quick growth all over the world in the last two decades. Banks decide to participate in the derivatives market either to hedge against unexpected movements in economic variables or for trading and broker-dealer activities. This paper analyses, by means of...

This paper studies the characteristics of the Italian nonfinancial firms using derivatives and the purpose of the derivatives use according to the most important literature in financial risk management. By using the Italian credit register and balance sheet data this study extends for the first...

We propose a new way to compute market-based risk-adjusted measures of inflation expectations. Borrowing from the finance literature, we study the ex-post excess return on inflation swap contracts – the difference between the swap rate at a given maturity and the realized inflation rate over...

The first decade of the 21st century saw wide fluctuations in commodity prices and a massively increased participation of financial investors in the commodity derivatives markets. The investigation of whether the presence of financial investors was responsible for these fluctuations - and, more...

Italian Abstract: Questo lavoro verifica se tra la fine del 2005 e la metà del 2012 la specializzazione territoriale dell’attività di prestito, il localismo bancario, ha influenzato la dinamica e la qualità dei prestiti concessi alle imprese italiane. A tal fine il lavoro propone una nuova...

In this paper we provide new evidence on the relationship between market concentration in the banking industry and firm dynamics. In Italy, in the case of a banking merger or acquisition, the antitrust authorities can require the sale of bank branches if the joint market share of the banks...

In the euro area, macroprudential policy can be a powerful complement to monetary policy. However, its coordination with microprudential policy is a particularly delicate task. The coexistence of two supervisory regimes that rely on similar tools to pursue different objectives may at times give...

This paper examines the history and the determinants of bank profits in Italy from 2005-15. We first identify a number of key stylized facts by comparing the income statement of Italian lenders with that of banks in other European countries. The comparison suggests that the profitability gap of...

Italian Abstract: Il lavoro analizza la dinamica e le caratteristiche delle obbligazioni bancarie detenute dalle famiglie italiane e presenta una stima del rendimento lordo a scadenza delle obbligazioni bancarie sottoscritte all'emissione. Dal 1950 la quota di tali attività nel portafoglio...