Publications & Forthcoming Papers
In my research, I focus on central issues facing economies and markets, such as the implications of credit growth for economic growth and financial stability, the role of banks and “shadow banks” in this process, and the effectiveness of financial market regulation and monetary policy in addressing these issues. My research has been published in the Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, and the Review of Financial Studies, among others. I have won several best paper awards, and I have been supported by the FDIC and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG). I was also awarded the Lamfalussy Fellowship from the European Central Bank.
If you want to know more about my research, please read my Research Summary.
Below, you will find a list of curated publications with links to them and downloads for associated data when available. You can see my entire list of publications on my CV.
Corporate loan spreads and economic activity
Review of Financial Studies, 2025, Vol. 38 (2), 507–546.
Co-authored with A. Saunders, A. Spina and D. Streitz
[Paper on SSRN] [Online Appendix][Presentation AFA 2022]
Why did bank stocks crash during COVID-19?
Review of Financial Studies, 2024, Vol. 37 (9), 2627–2684.
Co-authored with V. Acharya, M. Jager and R. Engle
[Paper on SSRN] [NBER] [Online Appendix][Presentation SFS Cavalcade 2022]
A related op-ed "Are Bank Credit Lines the New Source of Financial Fragility?" (with Viral Acharya), International Banker, November 2021
Contingent credit under stress
Annual Review of Financial Economics, 2024, Vol. 16, 2024
Co-authored with V. Acharya and M. Jager
[Paper on SSRN] [CEPR Version]
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Are risky banks disciplined by large corporate depositors?
Journal of Money, Credit & Banking, 2024, forthcoming
Co-authored with B. Imbierowicz, and A. SaundersLiquidity Dependence: Why Shrinking Central Bank Balance Sheets Is An Uphill Task
with V. Acharya, R. Chauhan, and R. Rajan, Proceedings of the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City on “Reassessing Constraints on the Economy and Policy”, 2022.Zombie Lending: Theoretical, International, and Historical Perspectives
Annual Review of Financial Economics, 2022, 14, 21-38
Co-authored with V. Acharya, M. Crosignani, and T. Eisert
[Paper on SSRN][ARFE Paper]Trends in Corporate Borrowing
Annual Review of Financial Economics, 2021, 13, 321-340
Co-authored with T. Berg and A. Saunders
[Paper SSRN] [Online Appendix]Do-files:
[Dealscan Data] [Capital IQ Data] [Figure 1 (DebtStructure)] [Figure 2 (CostOfDebt)]
[Figure 3 (MaturityCovenants)] [Figure 4 (IGvsLeveraged plusBonds)] [Figure 5 (LoanPurposes)]
Kicking the can down the road: government interventions in the European banking sector.
Review of Financial Studies, 2021, 34(9), 4090-4131. Co-authored with V. Acharya, L. Borchert and M. Jager
[NBER Working Paper No. 27537] [SSRN] [Slides]
Data: [Government Bailout Data (xls)]The Wolves of Wall Street? Managerial Attributes and Bank Risk.
Journal of Financial Intermediation, forthcoming.
Co-authored with J. Hagendorff, A. Saunders, and F. VallascasLender of Last Resort, Buyer of Last Resort, and a Fear of Fire Sales in the Sovereign Bond Market
Financial Markets, Institutions, and Instruments, forthcoming.
Co-authored with V. Acharya and D. Pierret“Brexit” and the Contraction of Syndicated Lending.
Journal of Financial Economics, 2021, 141 (1), 66-82.
Co-authored with T. Berg, A. Saunders, and L. SchäferDoes the Lack of Financial Stability Impair the Transmission of Monetary Policy?
Journal of Financial Economics, 2020, 138 (2), 342-365
Co-authored with V. Acharya, B. Imbierowicz, and D. Teichmann
[Online Appendix] [Paper SSRN]The risk of being a fallen angel and the corporate dash for cash in the midst of COVID.
Review of Corporate Finance Studies, 2020, 9 (3), 430–471
Co-authored with V. Acharya
[Paper SSRN]The Zero Risk Fallacy - Banks' Sovereign Exposure and Sovereign Risk Spillovers.
Journal of Financial Stability, 2020.
Co-authored with K. Kirschenmann and J. KorteA Capital Structure Channel of Monetary Policy.
Journal of Financial Economics, 2019, 133 (2), 357-378.
Co-authored with B. Grosse-Rueschkamp and D. Streitz
[Online Appendix] [Slides] [Paper SSRN]Syndication, Interconnectedness and Systemic Risk.
Journal of Financial Stability, 2018, 34, 105-120.
Co-authored with J. Cai, F. Eidam and A. Saunders
[Paper SSRN]Covenant Violations and Dynamic Loan Contracting.
Journal of Corporate Finance, 2017, 45, 540-565
Co-authored with F. Freudenberg, B. Imbierowicz and A. Saunders
[Paper SSRN]What do a million observations have to say about loan defaults? Opening the black of box of relationships.
Journal of Financial Intermediation, 2017, 31, 1-15 (Lead Article)
Co-authored with M. Puri and J. Rocholl
[Paper SSRN]Mind the Gap: The Difference between US and European Loan Rates.
Review of Financial Studies, 2017, 30 (3): 948-987
Co-authored with T. Berg, A. Saunders and D. Streitz
[Paper SSRN]The Total Costs of Corporate Borrowing in the Loan Market: Don’t Ignore the Fees.
Journal of Finance, 2016, 71 (3), 1357-1392
Co-authored with T. Berg and A. Saunders
[Paper SSRN] [Online Appendix] [Variable descriptions] [How to extract fee information from Dealscan (do file)]
[Hand-collected fee data from SEC filings] [TCB calculation (do file)] [TCB measure (stata file)]The "Greatest" Carry Trade Ever? Understanding Eurozone Bank Risks.
Journal of Financial Economics, 2015, 115 (2), 215-236 (Lead Article)
Co-authored with V. AcharyaDo Information Rents in Loan Spreads Persist over the Business Cycle?
Journal of Financial Services Research, 2013, 43, 175–195
Co-authored with J. Mattes and M. WahrenburgThe Costs of Being Private: Evidence from the Loan Market.
Review of Financial Studies, 2011, 24 (12), 4091 – 4122
Co-authored with A. Saunders
[Online Appendix] [Paper SSRN]Global Retail Lending in the Aftermath of the US Financial Crisis: Distinguishing between Demand and Supply Effects.
Journal of Financial Economics, 2011, 100 (3), 556 - 578
Co-authored with M. Puri and J. Rocholl
[Also mentioned in Gorton, G. and A. Metrick (2012), "Getting Up to Speed on the Financial Crisis: A One-Weekend-Reader's Guide", JEL: Vol. 50 No. 1 (March 2012).]On Syndicate Composition, Corporate Structure and the Certification Effect of Credit Ratings.
Journal of Banking and Finance, 2010, 35, 290 - 299
Co-authored with O. Bosch
Submitted Papers
Shadow Always Touches the Feet: Implications of Bank Credit Lines to Non-Bank Financial Intermediaries ***Updated Version*** (October 2025)
Co-authored with V. Acharya, M. Gopal and M. Jager
[Paper SSRN] [CEPR] [Slides]
Conferences (among others): EFA (2024), AEA (2025), FIRS (2025)
CovenantAI - New Insights into Covenant Violations ***Updated Version *** (November 2025)
Co-authored with A. Saunders and P. M. Verhoff
[SSRN] [Slides] [Online Appendix]
Selected Conferences: NBER Big Data and Securities Markets (2023), UCLA Conference on Financial Markets (2024), Future of Financial Information Conference (2024), Harvard-Wharton Insolvency and Restructuring Conference (2024), MoFiR (2025)
From Tweets to Transactions: High-Frequency Inflation Expectations, Consumption, and Stock Returns ***Revised December 2025***
Co-authored with B. Born, N. Lamersdorf, and J. Schuster
Conferences: AEA 2024, EFA 2024
Climate Transition Risks of Banks ***Revised December 2025***
Co-authored with F. Martini, Z. Sautner and C. Theunisz
[Slides] [Online Appendix]
Conferences: EFA (2024)
Working Papers
The Cyclicality of Direct Lending ***NEW March 2026***
Co-authored with F. Hinzen, G. Mondini, and P. Rintamaeki
[Paper SSRN]
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In direct lending, nonbank financial institutions originate bilaterally negotiated loans to risky firms. We document that issuance in this segment of the private credit market is countercyclical relative to issuance in other high-yield corporate credit markets, such as syndicated loans. This countercyclicality is the result of firms substituting across credit markets. Rather than forgo debt financing, firms switch to direct lending when credit conditions in other credit markets tighten. This substitution behavior is especially pronounced among sponsor-backed firms. Contrary to the concern that private credit could amplify credit supply shocks, our results indicate that private credit may dampen the corporate credit cycle. Thus, our findings have important implications for assessing the financial stability ramifications of the rapid growth in private credit.
Do Institutional Investors Trade on Covenant Violations? ***NEW February 2026***
Co-authored with A. Saunders and P. M. Verhoff
[Paper SSRN]
Conferences: SFS Cavalcade (2026), FIRS (2026)
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Description text goes hereWe develop CovenantAI, an artificial intelligence-powered covenant monitoring methodology, to examine whether institutional investors strategically trade around covenant violations in leveraged loan markets. Documenting a persistent decline in loan prices during the 100 days preceding violations—with pronounced drops 20 days prior—we find cumulative abnormal returns of -0.84% during the [-20,-1] event window. Price effects are most severe for loans amended post-violation or remaining in technical default. Covenant violations significantly increase downgrade and bankruptcy probabilities, particularly among non-investment-grade loans held by Collateralized Loan Obligations (CLOs). We document substantial cross-sectional heterogeneity in CLO constraints driven by overcollateralization ratios and CCC-rated loan holdings. Loans predominantly owned by constrained CLOs exhibit steeper pre-violation price declines and significantly more negative abnormal returns. Our evidence demonstrates that constrained institutional investors preemptively divest loan positions in anticipation of covenant violations, with trading intensity reflecting both violation severity and investor-specific portfolio constraints.
Do Debt Investors Care About ESG Ratings? ***Revised November 2025***
Co-authored with K. Fabisik, and L. Schaefer
[Paper SSRN]
Fragile Financing? How Corporate Reliance on Shadow Banking Affects their Access to Bank Liquidity *** Revised November 2025 ***
Co-authored with V. Acharya, M. Gopal and M. Jager
[Paper SSRN] [NBER Slides]
Conferences: NBER SI Corporate Finance (2025), EFA (2025)
When Flexibility Becomes Forbearance: Payment-in-Kind in Private Credit
*** Revised March 2026 ***
Co-authored with Paul Rintamaeki
[Online Appendix]
Navigating New Norms: The Response of LBO Financing to Post-Crisis Regulation and Market Shifts *** Revised Feb 2024 ***
Co-authored with R. Fahlenbrach, and S. Rothermund
[SSRN] [Slides] [Online Appendix]
Liquidity Dependence and the Waxing and Waning of Central Bank Balance Sheets
*** Revised Version *** (November 2023)
Co-authored with V. Acharya, R. Chauhan, and R. Rajan
Covered in FAZ (September 9, 2022) in German
Op-ed "Where has all the liquidity gone?" in Project Syndicate, Acharya/Rajan (Oct 7, 2022)
Macroeconomic Review, Monetary Authority of Singapore, Special Feature
VoxEU column: Demandable claims on bank liquidity complicate the unwinding of central bank balance sheets
Conferences: NBER Monetary Economics (2023), AEA 2024
Similar Investors ***Updated Version *** (September 2025)
Co-authored with C. Georg and D. Pierret
VoxEU column: Silicon Valley Bank’s insolvency highlights the risk of similar investors
Conferences: AFA 2024
Does Zombie Lending Impair Innovation? *** Completely Revised Version (January 2023) ***
Co-authored with C. Schmidt, Y. Schneider, J. Schuster and D. Streitz
Work in Progress
Stranded Liabilities
Co-authored with A. Spina and D. Streitz