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Professor Dr Felix Noth

Professor Dr Felix Noth
Current Position

since 10/16

Deputy Head of the Department of Financial Markets

Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH) – Member of the Leibniz Association

since 3/14

Head of the Research Group Real and Financial Innovation

Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH) – Member of the Leibniz Association

since 7/20

Professor for Banking and Financial Systems

Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg

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Research Interests
  • banking markets and real sector growth
  • banking regulation and risk-taking of banks
  • natural disasters and consequences for banks and banking markets

Felix Noth is a member of the Department of Financial Markets at IWH since March 2014 and Professor for Banking and Financial Systems at Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg. His research focuses on empirical banking and finance.

Felix Noth earned a diploma from LMU Munich and received his PhD from Goethe University Frankfurt. Prior to joining IWH, he held the position of PostDoc at Goethe University Frankfurt.

Your contact

Professor Dr Felix Noth
Professor Dr Felix Noth
Mitglied - Department Financial Markets
Send Message +49 345 7753-702

Publications

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Borrowers Under Water! Rare Disasters, Regional Banks, and Recovery Lending

Michael Koetter Felix Noth Oliver Rehbein

in: Journal of Financial Intermediation, July 2020

Abstract

We show that local banks provide corporate recovery lending to firms affected by adverse regional macro shocks. Banks that reside in counties unaffected by the natural disaster that we specify as macro shock increase lending to firms inside affected counties by 3%. Firms domiciled in flooded counties, in turn, increase corporate borrowing by 16% if they are connected to banks in unaffected counties. We find no indication that recovery lending entails excessive risk-taking or rent-seeking. However, within the group of shock-exposed banks, those without access to geographically more diversified interbank markets exhibit more credit risk and less equity capital.

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Badly Hurt? Natural Disasters and Direct Firm Effects

Felix Noth Oliver Rehbein

in: Finance Research Letters, 2019

Abstract

We investigate firm outcomes after a major flood in Germany in 2013. We robustly find that firms located in the disaster regions have significantly higher turnover, lower leverage, and higher cash in the period after 2013. We provide evidence that the effects stem from firms that already experienced a similar major disaster in 2002. Overall, our results document a positive net effect on firm performance in the direct aftermath of a natural disaster.

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How Do Banks React to Catastrophic Events? Evidence from Hurricane Katrina

Claudia Lambert Felix Noth Ulrich Schüwer

in: Review of Finance, No. 1, 2019

Abstract

This paper explores how banks react to an exogenous shock caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and how the structure of the banking system affects economic development following the shock. Independent banks based in the disaster areas increase their risk-based capital ratios after the hurricane, while those that are part of a bank holding company on average do not. The effect on independent banks mainly comes from the subgroup of highly capitalized banks. These independent and highly capitalized banks increase their holdings in government securities and reduce their total loan exposures to non-financial firms, while also increasing new lending to these firms. With regard to local economic development, affected counties with a relatively large share of independent banks and relatively high average bank capital ratios show higher economic growth than other affected counties following the catastrophic event.

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Working Papers

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Cultural Resilience, Religion, and Economic Recovery: Evidence from the 2005 Hurricane Season

Iftekhar Hasan Stefano Manfredonia Felix Noth

in: IWH Discussion Papers, No. 9, 2021

Abstract

This paper investigates the critical role of religion in the economic recovery after high-impact natural disasters. Exploiting the 2005 hurricane season in the southeast United States, we document that establishments in counties with higher religious adherence rates saw a significantly stronger recovery in terms of productivity for 2005-2010. Our results further suggest that a particular religious denomination does not drive the effect. We observe that different aspects of religion, such as adherence, shared experiences from ancestors, and institutionalised features, all drive the effect on recovery. Our results matter since they underline the importance of cultural characteristics like religion during and after economic crises.

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Lender-specific Mortgage Supply Shocks and Macroeconomic Performance in the United States

Franziska Bremus Thomas Krause Felix Noth

in: IWH Discussion Papers, No. 3, 2021

Abstract

This paper provides evidence for the propagation of idiosyncratic mortgage supply shocks to the macroeconomy. Based on micro-level data from the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act for the 1990-2016 period, our results suggest that lender-specific mortgage supply shocks affect aggregate mortgage, house price, and employment dynamics at the regional level. The larger the idiosyncratic shocks to newly issued mortgages, the stronger are mortgage, house price, and employment growth. While shocks at the level of shadow banks significantly affect mortgage and house price dynamics, too, they do not matter much for employment.

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Cultural Norms and Corporate Fraud: Evidence from the Volkswagen Scandal

Iftekhar Hasan Felix Noth Lena Tonzer

in: IWH Discussion Papers, No. 24, 2020

Abstract

We investigate whether cultural norms shaped by religion drive consumer decisions after a corporate scandal. We exploit the notice of violation by the US Environmental Protection Agency in September 2015 accusing Volkswagen (VW) of using software to manipulate car emission values during test phases. We show that new registrations of VW cars decline significantly in German counties with a high share of Protestants following the VW scandal. Our findings document that the enforcement culture in Protestantism facilitates penalising corporate fraud. We corroborate this channel with a survey documenting that Protestants respond significantly different to fraud but not to environmental issues.

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Keywords

Financial Stability Financial Markets Policy Evaluation Monetary Policy Risk Regulation Financial Institutions Econometrics
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