Christoph Bertsch

Short bio

Christoph Bertsch joined the Research Division of Sveriges Riksbank in September 2013. During his tenure at the Riksbank, he undertook a research sabbatical at Bonn University in the second half of 2024 and he visited the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) for a Central Bank Research Fellowship in late 2019. Prior to joining the Riksbank, Christoph earned his PhD from the European University Institute and held a postdoctoral position as a Research Associate at University College London. Earlier in his academic journey, he studied at the University of Mannheim and spent one year in the PhD program in Economics at UCLA. His current research interests include stablecoins, bank fragility and regulation, and central bank communication.

Private web page with latest papers: http://www.christophbertsch.com/

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Education

Ph.D. Economics, European University Institute, 2013
M.Res. Economics, European University Institute, 2008
Dipl.-Vw. University of Mannheim, 2007

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Publications in refereed journals

”Central Bank Mandates and Monetary Policy Stances: through the Lens of Federal Reserve Speeches” with I. Hull, R. L. Lumsdaine and X. Zhang, Journal of Econometrics, Volume 249, Part C, May 2025.

”A Wake-Up Call Theory of Contagion” with T. Ahnert, Review of Finance, Vol. 26, Issue 4, pages 829-854, July 2022

”Monetary Normalizations and Consumer Credit: Evidence from Fed Liftoff and Online Lending” with I. Hull and X. Zhang, International Journal of Central Banking, Volume 18, Number 5, December 2021.

“Narrative Fragmentation and the Business Cycle” with I. Hull and X. Zhang, Economics Letters, Volume 201, April 2021.

”Bank Misconduct and Online Lending” with I. Hull, Y. Qi and X. Zhang, Journal of Banking and Finance, Volume 116, July 2020.

”Spread the Word: International Spillovers from Central Bank Communication” with H. Armelius, I. Hull and X. Zhang, Journal of International Money and Finance, Volume 103, Pages 1-32, May 2020

"Systematic bailout guarantees and tacit coordination" with C. Calcagno and M. Le Quement, The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis and Policy (Advances), Volume 15, Issue 1, Pages 1-36, December 2014

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Working in progress and working papers

”Bank Fragility and Risk Management” with T. Ahnert, A. Leonello, and R. Marquez (Sveriges Riksbank Working Paper No. 441, September 2025).

”Four Facts about International Central Bank Communication” with I. Hull, R. L. Lumsdaine and X. Zhang (Sveriges Riksbank Working Paper No. 432, March 2024).

”Stablecoins: Adoption and Fragility” (Sveriges Riksbank Working Paper No. 423, May 2023).

”Central Bank Mandates and Monetary Policy Stances: through the Lens of Federal Reserve Speeches” with I. Hull, R. L. Lumsdaine and X. Zhang (Sveriges Riksbank Working Paper No. 417, October 2022).

”A Wake-Up Call Theory of Contagion” with T. Ahnert (ECB Working Paper Series No 2658, May 2022)

“Narrative Fragmentation and the Business Cycle” with I. Hull and X. Zhang (Sveriges Riksbank Working Paper No. 401; January 2021)

"Optimal Bank Leverage and Recapitalization in Crowded Markets” with M. Mariathasan (BIS Working Paper No. 923, December 2020)

”A Wake-Up Call Theory of Contagion” with T. Ahnert (Sveriges Riksbank Working Paper Series No. 294, January 2015, revised March 2020)

”Transparency in Global Games of Regime Change” with T. Ahnert, D. Quigley and F. Toscani

”Spread the Word: International Spillovers from Central Bank Communication” with H. Aurelius, I. Hull and X. Zhang (Sveriges Riksbank Working Paper Series No. 357, September 2018, revised November 2019)

”The Role of Trust in Online Lending” with I. Hull, Y. Qi and X. Zhang (Sveriges Riksbank Working Paper Series No. 346, November 2017)

”Monetary Normalizations and Consumer Credit: Evidence from Fed Liftoff and Online Lending” with I. Hull and X. Zhang (Sveriges Riksbank Working Paper Series No. 319, November 2016, revised May 2017)

"Systematic bailout guarantees and tacit coordination" with C. Calcagno and M. Le Quement (Sveriges Riksbank Working Paper Series No. 289, October 2014)

”A detrimental feedback loop: deleveraging and adverse selection” (Sveriges Riksbank Working Paper Series No. 277, September 2013, revised February 2015)

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Other publications

“Federal Reserve Speeches Meet Transformer Models” with Isaiah Hull, Robin L Lumsdaine, and Xin Zhang, SUERF Policy Brief No. 528, February 2023.

“Wake-Up Call Contagion” with Toni Ahnert, SUERF Policy Brief No. 385, July 2022.

"Hedging against exchange rate risk - maturity choice and roll-over risk", Sveriges Riksbank Economic Review 2022:1, March 2022.

"FinTech credit: Online lending platforms in Sweden and beyond" with C.-J. Rosenvinge, Sveriges Riksbank Economic Review 2019:2, September 2019.

"FinTech-krediter: internetbaserade låneplattformar i Sverige och världen" med C-J. Rosenvinge, Sveriges Riksbank Penning- och valutapolitik 2019:2, September 2019

"Revisiting the role of central banks as liquidity providers – old and new challenges" with J. Molin, Sveriges Riksbank Economic Review 2016:2, September 2016

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Referee

Review of Economic Studies; Journal of Econometrics; Journal of Financial Economics; Management Science; European Economic Review; Economic Theory; Journal of Money, Credit & Banking; Journal of Banking & Finance; Journal of International Money and Finance; Journal of the Royal Statistical Society; Review of International Economics; Journal of Economic Studies; Scandinavian Journal of Economics; European Journal of Finance; Economics Bulletin; Finance Research Letters; Journal of Financial Services Marketing.

Teaching

Guest lectures: Central Bank Digital Currency and Stablecoins (PhD), Oxford University.

Full courses: Dynamic Industrial Organization (Undergraduate), University College London.