Professor Michael Koetter, PhD

Professor Michael Koetter, PhD
Current Position

since 10/20

Vice President

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

since 9/16

Head of the Department of Financial Markets

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

since 9/16

Professor of Financial Economics

Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg

Research Interests

  • corporate investment allocation and aggregate growth
  • financial intermediation
  • financial stability and banking regulation
  • risk taking and competition
  • real implications of monetary and economic policy

Michael Koetter is a vice president of the institute and head of the Financial Markets department at IWH. He is Professor of Financial Economics at the Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg. The department is host to the annual FIN-FIRE conference on challenges to financial stability. His research concerns primarily empirical work on the interaction between financial institutions and systems, regulation, politics, and the real economy.

Michael Koetter obtained his PhD in economics from Utrecht University and his MSc in international economics from the University of Maastricht. Prior to joining IWH, he was a Professor at Frankfurt School of Finance & Management (2012-2016) and the University of Groningen (2006-2012). He currently serves as a member of the scientific advisory board of the Research Data and Service Center of Deutsche Bundesbank, an editor at the Economics of Transition and Institutional Change (ETIC), and as an Associate Editor of the Journal of Financial Stability. He consulted regularly central banks and served as the President of the IBEFA association.

Your contact

Professor Michael Koetter, PhD
Professor Michael Koetter, PhD
- Department Financial Markets
Send Message +49 345 7753-727 Personal page LinkedIn profile

Publications

Citations
7068

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The Reverse Revolving Door in the Supervision of European Banks

Stefano Colonnello Michael Koetter Alex Sclip Konstantin Wagner

in: International Journal of Central Banking, forthcoming

Abstract

We assemble data about executives on the boards of national supervisory authorities (NSA) in European banking, which reveal that 40% have an employment history in the financial industry. Appointment patterns to NSA boards differ substantially across countries. Generally, the appointment of former finance professionals as prudential supervisors is inconsequential for banks‘ valuations, capitalization, and asset growth. The exception are positive, but short-lived valuation effects for those banks whose alumni are appointed as executives of directly responsible NSA boards. Circumstantial evidence suggests that a “proximity bias“ is a more likely driver of this effect inste

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The Limits of Local Laws in Global Supply Chains: Cutting Ties or “Edutrading” Procurement Partners?

Hendrik Keilbach Michael Koetter Melina Ludolph Fabian Woebbeking

in: Journal of Development Economics, Vol. 182 (June), 2026

Abstract

We study the procurement patterns of non-listed firms and examine how these often-overlooked, yet pivotal players in global supply chains adjust their sourcing when they anticipate accountability for externalities beyond their organizational boundaries. Using granular customs data and a surprise information release about the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act, product-level regressions reveal that importing firms are 3.5 percentage points less likely to source a product from countries where the relevant production sector exhibits elevated ESG-related risks, suggesting that firms tend to cut ties with higher-risk suppliers. The effects are concentrated among firms with well-diversified supplier networks for a product and higher profitability, suggesting they have the necessary flexibility to respond quickly to anticipated regulatory pressure. Our findings suggest that mandates requiring firms to incorporate broad sustainability considerations into their operational decisions may have limits, particularly for non-listed firms.

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Real Estate Transaction Taxes and Credit Supply

Michael Koetter Philipp Marek Antonios Mavropoulos

in: Journal of Financial Stability, Vol. 80 (September), 2025

Abstract

We exploit staggered real estate transaction tax (RETT) hikes across German states to identify the effect of house price changes on mortgage credit supply. Based on approximately 33 million real estate online listings, we construct a quarterly hedonic house price index (HPI) between 2008:q1 and 2017:q4, which we instrument with state-specific RETT changes to isolate the effect on mortgage credit supply by all local German banks. First, a RETT hike by one percentage point reduces HPI by 1.2%. This effect is driven by listings in rural regions. Second, a 1% contraction of HPI induced by an increase in the RETT leads to a 1.4% decline in mortgage lending. This transmission of fiscal policy to mortgage credit supply is effective across almost the entire bank capitalization distribution.

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Working Papers

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Do Online Real Estate Listing Prices Gauge Transaction Prices (Well)? Evidence from Novel Near-Real-Time Data

Michael Koetter Felix Noth Fabian Woebbeking

in: IWH Discussion Papers, No. 13, 2026

Abstract

We show that online listing prices closely approximate transaction prices across Europe. Our validation uses the IWH European Real Estate Index (EREI), a near-real-time database of monthly purchase prices, rents, listing counts, and time on market for 1,154 NUTS-3 regions in 16 countries since April 2024. With publication lags as short as one month, validated listing prices offer a timely, comparable complement to official house price statistics. Purchase price levels correlate between 0.94 and 0.97 with transaction prices in the five most populous markets, while calibration slopes range from 0.95 to 1.00. Aggregate listing prices exceed benchmark transaction prices by 13% to 22%.

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The Price of Beauty: Biodiversity Effects on Residential Housing Markets

Michael Koetter Birte Winter Fabian Woebbeking

in: IWH Discussion Papers, No. 21, 2025

Abstract

We study how and why local biodiversity affects residential property values. Leveraging remotely sensed greenness indicators and a novel dataset of granular property listings, we examine how changes in vegetation load on real estate prices. Hikes in greenness are associated with higher listing prices, fewer properties listed, and reduced liquidity in housing markets. These results suggest that price hikes in housing markets are driven by supply-side constraints instead of a “greenium” that buyers might be willing to pay due to innate preferences. Exogenous zoning shocks to foster biodiversity corroborate the presence of supply side constraints as price drivers in residential housing markets. Our findings emphasize the need to calibrate biodiversity and (social) housing policy objectives more explicitly.

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Contractionary Macroprudential Policy, Collateral Valuation, and Risk-shifting in EU Banking

Michael Koetter Felix Noth Fabian Woebbeking

in: IWH Discussion Papers, No. 4, 2025

Abstract

We study real estate lending responses to tighter macroprudential policy (MPP) in the form of lower required loan-to-value (LTV) ratios. Contract details of 2.4 million mortgage loans originated between 2008 and 2020 reveal significantly fewer new loan issuances in response to contractionary MPP, commensurate with an average reduction in aggregate lending of 21 percent. Loan-level analyses reveal, however, that banks comply with lower LTVs by systematically more benevolent valuations of residential real estate pledged as collateral instead of reducing loan size. Exploiting earthquakes as plausible exogenous shocks to property values corroborates these risk-shifting patterns by banks in the form of inflated property valuations after LTV shocks.

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