Zeno Rotondi

• Head of Department at Unicredit

We use the results of the ECB's comprehensive assessment to evaluate the importance of the bank business model on risk assessment and the persuasive effectiveness of different supervisory styles on banks’ recapitalization. Our analysis reveals inconsistencies in the information content provided by the various regulatory measures used for assessing...

Using a unique sample of European manufacturing firms, we empirically investigate how bank lending technologies and soft information adoption affected firms’ credit availability during the 2007-2009 financial crisis. Estimation results indicate that transactional lending technologies increased firms’ credit rationing, whereas soft information mitig...

Using a unique sample of small and medium-sized Italian firms, we investigate the effect of financial constraints on firms' participation in domestic and international supply chains. We find that firms more exposed to bank credit rationing and with weaker relationships with banks are more likely to participate in supply chains to overcome liquidity...

Using a unique sample of European manufacturing firms, we empirically investigate how bank lending technologies and soft information adoption affected firms’ credit availability during the 2007-2009 financial crisis. Estimation results indicate that transactional lending technologies increased firms’ credit rationing, whereas soft information mitig...

SME growth is firmly on the EU political agenda and has been heavily underscored in the European Commission’s Capital Markets Union (CMU) action plan. In this perspective, institutional investors and in particular pension funds have been seen as a key source of long-term capital for SMEs, as the balance sheets of banks have become increasingly stre...

Banca Impresa Società, 1/2018. Il lavoro esamina gli impatti del meccanismo europeo della risoluzione bancaria, in particolare sulle banche italiane, utilizzando una prospettiva duplice, ma collegata: da un lato la complessità dell’Unione bancaria quanto a principi, strumenti e autorità coinvolte, dall’altro il condizionamento che l’introduzione de...

This paper assesses the role of concentrated bank borrowing in explaining the extensive and intensive margins of export, while accounting for the simultaneous relationship between exporting and innovation. Concentrated bank borrowing proxies for the intensity of the bank–firm relationship and is a strategy often pursued by small and medium enterpri...

In the present analysis we focus on the resolution capacity of Italian banks and examine the implications of the new bail-in tool for banking business models and bank size. On aggregate values, we find a contraction of the resolution capacity of the banking system in recent years. Our findings obtained by estimating a dynamic panel data model show...

Using data for a large sample of small firms collected through the 8th UniCredit Survey conducted in 2011, we investigate the extent to which banks of different size reward innovative firms, in terms of both access to lending and volume of credit granted. We find that more innovative firms are associated with weak credit rationing. Using instrument...

Using data at the bank–firm level collected through the 9th UniCredit Survey conducted in 2012 on a large sample of small businesses, we investigate the extent to which a large international bank offers better credit conditions to enterprises that use ICT more extensively. The results, which are robust to selection and endogeneity issues, show that...

After the rapid start-up of the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM), on January 1, 2016 the Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM), according to EU Regulation 806/2014, also officially started. The new European rules on Recovery and Resolution (EU Directive 2014/59, BRRD and Regulation 2014/806/EU) have been implemented in Italy with Legislative Decrees...

Si ipotizza che le banche italiane soffrano, rispetto alle banche di altri paesi europei, uno svantaggio competitivo nei prestiti alle imprese. Si stimano due cross section su circa 100 banche europee per il 2013: la prima sulle determinanti dell'esposizione al rischio di credito sui prestiti vivi alle imprese, la seconda sulle determinanti dell'in...

The analysis of the new system of bank resolution shows the extreme complexity of the mechanism and the variety and impact of the tools available. The BRRD organises the articulation of public tasks for banking crises in three different phases: the ordinary course of business, the early intervention, and finally the situation of banks in distress o...

In this paper we have tried to describe the main challenges and opportunities that the transition to the fourth industrial revolution involves, focusing on the impact on business models and supply chains. As shown by some surveys, almost all Italian companies are still unprepared to face the new challenge and are likely to start with a severe handi...

he Mutual Guarantee Institutions (MGIs) together with the banking system have played a special role in supporting the Italian SMEs during the first part of the last financial crisis. However, in the last years, MGIs are showing its weakness. This paper, using a very detailed survey on Italian MGIs, underline the main strengthens and weakness of MGI...

We test whether the length of a firm–bank relationship affects firms’ foreign direct investment (FDI) and/or exports and if this nexus depends on the main bank itself being internationalized. The analysis is carried out on matched micro-data from a large survey of Italian manufacturing enterprises from 1998 to 2003. Our main result is that a longer...

We use the results of the ECB's Comprehensive Assessment to evaluate the importance of bank business model on risk assessment and the persuasive effectiveness of different supervisory styles on banks’ recapitalization. Our analysis reveals inconsistencies in the information content provided by the various regulatory measures used for assessing bank...

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 relationship with the main bank fosters firms’ foreign direc...

Ci chiediamo se i contratti di rete si stiano diffondendo tra le imprese italiane e se, in particolare, l’adesione alle reti d’impresa si associ a miglioramenti nei mercati di sbocco e/o nell’organizzazione aziendale. I risultati che otteniamo appaiono incoraggianti sotto tutti i punti di vista. A poco più di tre anni dall’entrata in vigore della d...

The ability of a country and its businesses to grow is tightly related to the possibility of exporting and penetrating into foreign markets. The aim of this article is to study whether bank support can help small businesses (SBs) exporting at the extensive as well as the intensive margin. We address this issue by using a large database on small Ita...

This paper investigates SME financing in Italy. The literature distinguishes between two main different lending technologies (LTs) for SMEs: transactional and relationship LTs. We find that banks lend to SMEs by using both LTs together, independently of the size and proximity of borrowers. Moreover, we show that when soft information is taken into...

Information and Communication technologies (Ict), e-commerce (ec) and Cooperation agreements (ca) offer enterprises a wide range of possibilities for improving their competitiveness which means that enterprises that are able to exploit the potential benefits offered by Ict, ec and ca are more likely to grow and to engage in innovative processes and...

We examine the role played by Mutual Guarantee Institutions (MGIs) in the lending policies undertaken by banks at the peak of the Great Crisis of 2007–2009. We address this issue by using a large database on Italian firms built from the credit files of UniCredit banking Group and focusing on small business. We provide an empirical analysis of the d...

SMEs through networks can become more competitive and able to penetrate into foreign markets or emerging economies. A survey on a large sample of SMEs – demonstrating the interest that banks should show for such forms of organization and for new instruments such as the business network contract – shows the opportunities deriving from a network: the...

Using data at the bank‐firm level for a large sample of small firms collected through the 8th UniCredit Survey conducted in 2011, we investigate the extent to which banks of different size reward more innovative firms, in terms of both access to lending and volume of credit granted. First we find that the status of innovative firm is associated wit...

A salient feature of the Italian economy is its high reliance on small firms and local productive systems. For this reason, a relevant policy question is how the Italian production system can deal with the growing competition in global markets. The literature suggests that Italian economic system needs new mechanisms that help a coordination of all...

We study the role of mutual guarantee institutions (MGIs) in building trust through the crisis and outline current challenges. First, focusing on some 77,000 small firms from the portfolio of a large Italian bank, we show that at the peak of the crisis MGI support reduced the likelihood of company financial tension, chiefly for worse rated firms. S...

Using a large database built from the credit files of UniCredit we focus on loans to small businesses at the peak of the crisis. We study the determinants of the worsening of financial tension up to March 2009 for those customers experiencing (or close to) financial tension already at the end of December 2008. We find that, controlling for internal...

This paper examines the interaction between monetary policy and financial stability and provides an assessment of the implications of banks’ risk management practices for monetary policy. By considering the desire of the central bank to stabilize different types of the “basis” risk as a contribution to financial stability, we derive a set of plausi...

This paper aims to detect the role of relationship lending in explaining firm's innovation activity, its probability to export (i.e. the extensive margin) and its share of exports on total sales conditional on exporting (i.e. the intensive margin). We provide an alternative measure of informational tightness: the ratio of firm's debt with its main...

This paper investigates the firm-main bank relationship in a sample of Italy’s SMEs. The findings suggest that banks lend to SMEs via different lending technologies. These results support the hardening-of-soft-information view, whereby also transactional lenders might somehow use difficult to codify qualitative information – traditionally believed...

We show that a longer relationship length with the main bank fosters Italian firms' foreign direct investment (FDI) and, weakly, production off-shoring abroad. Possibly, longer bank relationships help secure external financing for these companies, which have become more opaque because of their internationalization. In contrast, other than for small...

Understanding firm constraints in R&D expenditures is a key component to addressing broader economic goals. We investigate the role of local intensity of university-industry knowledge spillovers on the amount of firm R&D expenditure. To investigate this issue we use firm-level dataon R&D expenditures from Italy. We find that geographical variation...

We study the determinants of the various forms of internationalization by Italy's enterprises. Specifically, we aim to highlight the role played by the length of the relationship with the main bank in molding an enterprise's choice to go international. Our empirical findings show that the length of such a relationship fosters foreign direct investm...

This paper calculates indices of central bank autonomy (CBA) for 163 central banks as of end-2003, and comparable indices for a subgroup of 68 central banks as of the end of the 1980s. The results confirm strong improvements in both economic and political CBA over the past couple of decades, although more progress is needed to boost political auton...

This paper uses data-rich estimation techniques to study monetary policy in an open economy. We apply the techniques to a small, forward-looking model and explore the importance of the exchange rate in the monetary policy rule. This approach allows us to discern whether a monetary authority targets the exchange rate per se, or instead simply respon...

Are relationship banking and market finance complements or substitutes? Some authors, stressing the incentive for firms to escape bank rent seeking, show that bank relationships weaken after companies IPO. On the contrary, another strand of literature suggests complementarity, as bank relationships bring positive news to financial markets. We study...

This paper compares the European Central Bank’s conduct of monetary policy (1999-2005) with that of the Bundesbank (after the German Unification: 1990-1998) in order to test the hypothesis of an ECB with “Bundesbank’s preferences” put forward in the theoretical literature (Alesina and Grilli 1993, Fatum 2006). Econometric tests and simulations base...

This paper investigates the empirical properties of simple interest rate rules that embed either “backward” or “forward” interest rate smoothing. Such interest rate rules can be rationalized as the operative reaction functions used by central banks pursuing monetary policy and financial stability targets. We explicitly consider the implications of...

Once credited as the leading hedge of the Italian economy, industrial districts (IDs) are now often identified as the problem rather than the solution to Italy’s stagnation. But we can observe a clearly better performance for IDs in mechanics, particularly in those showing signs of a vertical re-specialization, evolving from the production of final...

Once credited as the leading hedge of the Italian economy, industrial districts (IDs) are now often identified as the problem rather than the solution to Italy’s stagnation. But we can observe a clearly better performance for IDs in mechanics, particularly in those showing signs of a vertical re-specialization, evolving from the production of final...

Once credited as the leading hedge of the Italian economy, industrial districts (IDs) are now often identified as the problem rather than the solution to Italy’s stagnation. But we can observe a clearly better performance for IDs in mechanics, particularly in those showing signs of a vertical re-specialization, evolving from the production of final...

Once credited as the leading hedge of the Italian economy, industrial districts (IDs) are now often identified as the problem rather than the solution to Italy’s stagnation. But we can observe a clearly better performance for IDs in mechanics, particularly in those showing signs of a vertical re-specialization, evolving from the production of final...

This paper examines interactions between monetary policy and financial stability. There is a general view that central banks smooth interest rate changes to enhance the stability of financial markets. But might this induce a moral hazard problem, and induce financial institutions to maintain riskier portfolios, the presence of which would further i...

This work focuses on the recent literature, started by the seminal article of Ang - Piazzesi (2003), aimed at developing macrofinance models that combine finance specifications of the term structure of interest rates with standard macroeconomic aggregate relationships for output and inflation. We review the alternative models proposed in this new l...

Should central banks react to stock market prices? This problem has become fashionable again after the bubble of the 1990s and the following recession: if the Fed had reacted earlier to con tain the sharp growth in stock prices, might macroeconomic stabilization have been achieved? We present a new set of estimates showing that the Fed did react to...

In this Paper we argue that the objectives given to the European Central Bank in the Maastricht Treaty are not well represented by the widely used weighted sum of squared deviations of inflation and output from target (plus possibly terms in squared changes in interest rates to pick up interest rate smoothing). Instead the stated lexicographic orde...

It has been argued that delegation of monetary policy to an independent central bank, which acts as an agent for the government, does not mitigate the problem of time-inconsistency, but merely relocates it. We argue here that this is not so, and that delegation enables a wider class of economies to sustain zero inflation than would be able to do so...

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 track record: "a history of matching words with actions"....

Several alternative explanations have been put forward to explain what has been named the "mystery" 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 opinion that the Euro would have been as good as the DM. Also t...

A key issue in monetary policy is that on the importance of following systematic behaviours. The paper revisits the classic debate on rules versus discretion focusing on the design of instrument rules in a manner that push discretionary policy choices in the direction of the commitment equilibrium. It is shown that an instrument rule with an optima...

This paper calculates indices of central bank autonomy (CBA) for 163 central banks as of end-2003, and comparable indices for a subgroup of 68 central banks as of the end of the 1980s. The results confirm strong improvements in both economic and political CBA over the past couple of decades, although more progress is needed to boost political auton...

The impact of a stronger work requirement for welfare recipients in a workfare program is studied in an efficiency wage model where a representative firm chooses its level of monitoring activities. A stricter workfare policy raises employment as well as the monitoring intensity. It typically increases profits and reduces the tax rate. The impact on...

p>I examine the importance of the inflationary basis of time consistent monetary policy by using an extended version of the simple Barro-Gordon framework featuring important aspects of actual policy making. The model developed provides a counterexample to the standard theory as it yields the result that a deflationary bias may be possible as well....

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Southampton, 2000.