Johannes Karge

Do corporate bond markets substitute for impaired banks during systemic banking crises? I assemble a new annual data set of primary bond issuance by sector for 21 countries since the nineteenth century. Event studies and local projections show that government issuance rises sharply, financial-corporate issuance increases only temporarily, and non-financial corporate issuance falls persistently. The findings reject an aggregate “spare tire” view: when banking systems are impaired, firms most exposed to bank credit do not obtain a broadly available market-based substitute.

This project develops a long-run perspective on the French banking system. It brings together historical sources to document changes in the structure of banks, their balance sheets, and their links to the wider financial system across major institutional and macroeconomic transformations. The goal is to provide new empirical evidence on how the organisation of banking and credit has evolved in France.

How does corporate indebtedness shape firms’ investment response to macro-financial conditions? This project examines the relationship between corporate debt and investment in France, focusing on how balance-sheet positions influence the transmission of financial conditions to real activity. It aims to distinguish the role of debt as a financing instrument from its role as a constraint during adverse conditions.