Empirical evidence that migrants send home more remittances after disasters raises the question of whether remittances can be used to self-insure, substituting for both formal and informal insurance. We investigate this question using a unique data set on the usage patterns of financial services...

Do empires affect attitudes towards the state long after their demise? We hypothesize that the Habsburg Empire with its localized and well-respected administration increased citizens’ trust in local public services. In several Eastern European countries, communities on both sides of the...

The financial integration in Europe concentrates on cross-border mergers rather than cross-border lending and emphasizes the need for harmonizing bank regulation and supervision. We study the impact of cross-border lending in a theoretical model where banks acquire either hard or soft...

Why do banks remain passive? In a model of bank-firm relationship we study the trade-off a bank faces when having defaulting firms declared bankrupt. First, the bank receives a payoff if a firm is liquidated. Second, it provides information about a firm's type to its competitors. Thereby,...

In transition and developing countries, we observe rather high levels of corruption even if they have democratic political systems. This is surprising from a political economy perspective, as the majority of people generally suffers from high corruption levels. Our model is based on the fact...

Dieser Forschungsbericht untersucht die Auswirkungen der im Sommer 2015 eingeführten Befreiungsvorschriften des Kleinanlegerschutzgesetzes. Durch eine stärkere Regulierung soll das Kleinanlegerschutzgesetz für mehr Transparenz für Anlegerinnen und Anleger auf dem grauen Kapitalmarkt sorgen....

We study how firms' individual credit market experience influences their beliefs about the bank lending policy, using the Austrian Business Survey between 2011 and 2016. Firms which have recently experienced a loan rejection are more likely to believe that the lending policy is restrictive. We...

Die landwirtschaftliche Produktivität in Subsahara-Afrika, das zu den ärmsten Regionen der Welt zählt, hat sich zwar in den vergangenen Jahrzehnten leicht verbessert. Dennoch bleibt sie immer weiter hinter der Produktivität in anderen Weltregionen zurück. Anders als in anderen Regionen hat...