I am a PhD candidate in Finance at the University of Zurich and the Swiss Finance Institute. 

I am passionate about research in empirical banking. My research focuses on policy-relevant topics such as bank capital regulation, the determinants of bank credit supply, bank lending specialization, optimal capital allocation in the economy, and its impact on economic growth and stability. In my work, I aspire to generate insights into the intended and unintended consequences of financial sector regulation that can be employed in navigating a wide range of policy decisions.

My work has been published in the Journal of Financial Intermediation and the European Journal of Law and Economics. I co-authored an in-depth analysis policy paper commissioned by the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs.

 

JOB MARKET PAPER

«Bank Specialization
in Lending to New Firms»

The paper investigates the impact of bank-lending specialization on the rate of business creation and survival. We formulate a novel dimension of bank-lending specialization – specialization in lending to new firms – and demonstrate that it is highly relevant for promoting local entrepreneurial activity and improving the resources allocation among the newly established firms. We exploit a Portuguese deregulation reform that removed onerous business creation barriers and that was rolled out in a staggered manner across municipalities from mid-2005. Our results indicate that while reducing regulatory barriers stimulates business creation, this effect depends on the number and market share of the local bank branches specialized in lending to new firms prior to the reform. More and larger specialized branches are associated with improved credit access and higher leverage of newly established local firms. Moreover, new firms that obtain loans from specialized branches exhibit up to 12% higher survival rates.

with Diana Bonfim, Ralph De Haas,
and Steven Ongena 
Paper

PUBLICATIONS IN PEER-REVIEWED JOURNALS

«The Countercyclical Capital Buffer and the Composition of Bank Lending»
with Raphael Auer and Steven Ongena

Journal of Financial Intermediation, 2022

Paper

«Bank Capital Buffer Releases, Public Guarantee Programs, and Dividend Bans in Covid-19 Europe: An Appraisal» with Steven Ongena

European Journal of Law and Economics, 2022

Paper

POLICY PAPERS AND WORKING PAPERS

«Has the relaxation of capital and liquidity buffers worked in practice?» with Steven Ongena

For the Economic Governance Support Unit of the European Parliament, 2020

Paper

«Lending specialization and distressed banks’ credit reallocation»

Working paper, 2019
available upon request

«Payout restrictions and bank lending: evidence from a blanket dividend ban» with Hsuan Fu and Alexander Wagner 

In progress