(Green)washing the trust: climate information and banking policies (joint with S. Di Paolo and L. Rubeo) [2026]
Greenwashing, that is, the deceptive self-portrayal of companies as sustainable and environmentally friendly, is an increasingly relevant issue in finance. Identifying greenwashers is not a trivial task, given the difficulty of assessing firms’ true environmental profiles, especially when relying on traditional data sources that generally overlook communication strategies and mass perceptions. Using granular credit data from the euro area banking system, we show that during the period 2019-2023, greenwashers, initially identified by combining information on firms’ carbon emissions with an assessment of the reliability of their reporting, were able to borrow at lower interest rates than other companies. We then assess companies’ environmental profiles by extracting textual information from newspapers and the internet. We find that sentiment scores based on firms’ own websites are generally higher than those derived from newspapers, suggesting that companies use their communication channels to place greater emphasis on their sustainable image than is reflected in external sources. By integrating this textual metric with our initial proxy, we construct an alternative definition of greenwashing. Based on a sample of Italian firms, results obtained from this combined proxy are consistent with those derived from structured data alone. Finally, by introducing an unexpected contractionary monetary policy shock into our framework, we confirm the operation of the credit risk channel of monetary policy and find evidence of a reduction in the pricing benefits previously enjoyed by greenwashers.
As long as the bank gains: expanding the distribution activity (joint with F. Vercelli) [2019]
We investigate the retail distribution of financial products by the Italian banking system between 2010 and 2017. We focus on mutual fund shares, insurance contracts and individually managed portfolios, analysing the characteristics of the banks that distribute these instruments the most and the contribution of each product to bank profitability. We find that banks with larger amounts of bad loans relative to equity distribute more asset management instruments, an activity that does not absorb equity. When liquidity constraints are less binding, banks that are financed more through deposits increase their distribution activity. Moreover, banks with stronger lending specialization are less involved in distributing financial products. Finally, fees from the distribution of individually managed portfolios contribute to bank profitability more than those from the distribution of mutual fund shares.
Households' indebteness and financial vulnerability in the Italian regions (joint with V. Vacca et al.) [2013]
This paper describes various aspects of the degree of indebtedness and potential financial vulnerabilities of households in the Italian regions. Micro-data from several sources suggest that the financial situation of households in Italy varies greatly from region to region; some of these differences have faded somewhat in recent years, whereas in other respects no substantial convergence can be detected. Recent trends also vary across the socio-demographic classes (income quartiles, citizenship, age of the household head, etc.), presumably owing to both factors of demand on the part of households and supply policies on the part of banks; the latter changed above all after the onset of the economic and financial crisis.