Abstract: Open banking (OB) empowers bank customers to share transaction data with fintechs and other banks. 49 countries have adopted OB policies. Consumer trust in fintechs predicts OB policy adoption and adoption spurs investment in fintechs. UK microdata shows that OB enables: i) consumers to access both financial advice and credit; ii) SMEs to establish new fintech lending relationships. In a calibrated model, OB universally improves welfare through entry and product improvements when used for advice. When used for credit, OB promotes entry and competition by reducing adverse selection, but higher prices for costlier or privacy-conscious consumers partially offset these benefits.

Conference presentations: AFA (scheduled); NY Fed Fintech Conference; UTD Finance Conference; EFA; NFA; NBER SI Corporate Finance; NBER Economics of Privacy Conference; UBC Winter Finance Conference; Barcelona Summer Forum; FIRS; Esade Spring Workshop (Barcelona); Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Nova SBE; HEC Workshop on Entrepreneurship; OCC Conference; NFA; Rome Junior Finance Conference; UBC Winter Finance Conference; Columbia; Erasmus University in Rotterdam;  Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business; HEC Lausanne;  Maastricht University; NYU WAPFIN (Women Assistant Professors in Finance); Stanford; Stockholm School of Economics; UBC; Universidad Carlos III de Madrid; USC; Wharton; Bank of Italy;

Abstract: This paper investigates how technology affects collateral liquidity in mortgage markets. Exploiting the staggered introduction of electronic bidding across Florida’s counties, I show that foreclosure auction success increases by 39%, and price discounts shrink by 53%. I also find that credit supply expands and mortgage loan rates decrease, consistent with lenders incorporating lower foreclosure costs into lending decisions. Overall, this evidence suggests that technological modernization can improve allocative efficiency, and deepen liquidity in real estate markets. 

Selected conferences: EFA 2022, EEA 2022, HEC PhD workshop, ERIM*, 28th ERES**, 4th CefES conference 2022, Tri-City Day-Ahead Workshop on Financial Regulation, Nova Finance PhD workshop.

*Best Paper Award of the 2021-2022 ERIM PhD Seminar Series; **Best Paper Award for the Refereed Session 2022; 

ECON JM Best Paper Runner-Up Award by UniCredit Foundation and European Economic Association; 

10th SUERF/UniCredit Foundation Prize; 

We assess equity-efficiency trade-offs of PACE loans. Borrowers are more likely to obtain permits related to disaster-proofing homes, and loan takeup is concentrated in areas with higher ex ante and ex post natural hazard risk. Such investments are capitalized into home values, but tax delinquency rates among borrowers increase. Although PACE loans are super senior to other debt, lenders expand their provision of mortgage credit in PACE-enabled counties. 

Conference presentations (incl. upcoming): Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, ESCP, 2024 AREUEA National Conference, Utah Public Finance (UPFIN), FINEST Spring 2024, Urban Economics Association (UEA) Europe 2024, 2024 Pre-WFA Summer Real Estate Research Symposium, CEPR-ESSEC-Luxembourg Conference on Sustainable Financial Intermediation, Cambridge Real Estate Finance Symposium, 21st Corporate Finance Days, 4th Finance and Productivity (FINPRO), RECAPNET KTH Stockholm, Urban Economics Association (UEA) North America, Paris December Finance Conference.

Coverage: Yale Insights.

This paper examines whether the risk of a future collateral fire sale affects lending decisions. We study US mortgage applications and exploit exogenous variation in foreclosure frictions for identification. We find lenders to be less likely to approve mortgages when anticipated losses due to uncoordinated collateral liquidations are high, and when there is elevated risk of joint collateral liquidation. These results suggest that fire sale risk has implications for credit allocation, and that lenders' collective origination decisions mitigate fire sale risk ex-post. However, we also find the effects to be significantly weaker outside periods in which fire sales are salient.

Conference presentations: FIRS 2022, EFA 2022, Norges Bank-CEPR 2021, 3rd QMUL Economics-Finance Workshop, De Nederlandsche Bank, 2021 RiskLab/BoF/ESRB, EFiC 2021, The Finance Symposium 2021; 5th Benelux Banking Research Day, PhD Finance forum - AEFIN, European Economic Association (EEA) conference 2020, 7th Emerging Scholars in Banking and Finance (2020), EFiC 2023 (scheduled). 

Coverage: World Bank: All About Finance.

Conference presentations: Erasmus University, Bocconi University, Edinburgh Corporate Finance Conference, FINEST 2023 Spring Workshop*.

*Best Paper Award in Memory of Radha Gopalan

Abstract: In statistics, samples are drawn from a population in a data-genetaring process (DGP). Standard errors measure the uncertainty in sample estimates of population parameters. In science, evidence is generated to test hypotheses in an evidence-generating process (EGP). We claim that EGP variation across researchers adds uncertainty: non-standard errors. Our crowd-sourced empirical analysis finds that non-standard errors are sizable, on par with standard errors. Their size (I) co-varies only weakly with team merits, reproducibility, or peer rating, (ii) declines significantly after peer-feedback, and (iii) is underestimated by participants. 

Selected conferences: Microstructure Exchange, FIRS, RBFC, SED, SoFiE*, Vieco, and WFA.

*Runner-up for the best paper prize.

Coverage: Die Zeit.

Abstract: We investigate the effectiveness of business shutdowns to contain the Covid-19 disease. In March 2020, Italy shut down operations in selected sectors of its economy. Using a difference-in-differences approach, we find that municipalities with higher exposure to closed sectors experienced subsequently lower mortality rates. The implied life savings exceed 9,400 people over a period of less than a month. We also find that business closures exhibited rapidly diminishing returns and had large effects outside the closed businesses themselves, including spillovers to other municipalities. Overall, the results suggest that business shutdowns are effective, but should be selectively implemented and centrally coordinated.

Coverage: BlueSky, BizEd AACSB International, Growth Hub, lavoce (in Italian).

Data: 10.25397/eur.14500491 and 10.25397/eur.14500449