Walking the talk? Green politicians and pollution patterns

Exploiting three decades of detailed regional data for Germany, we find that when the Green Party is successful at the polls, local hazardous emissions decline. The level of political representation matters, too. Green politicians’ gaining influence at county level is followed largely by a decline in air pollutants that have an immediate adverse health effect. In contrast, when the Green party joins the state government, only greenhouse gas emissions that affect the welfare of future generations via climate change decline.

Walking the talk? Green politicians and pollution patterns

Exploiting three decades of detailed regional data for Germany, we find that when the Green Party is successful at the polls, local hazardous emissions decline. The level of political representation matters, too. Green politicians’ gaining influence at county level is followed largely by a decline in air pollutants that have an immediate adverse health effect. In contrast, when the Green party joins the state government, only greenhouse gas emissions that affect the welfare of future generations via climate change decline.

The complex linkages between euro area insurers and sovereign bond markets

Euro area insurers manage several trillion euro in assets and take a long‑term investment perspective. To counteract the long period of low interest rates, they have shifted towards holding more alternative and less liquid assets. As a result, their balance sheets have become less liquid and more sensitive to market conditions overall. Meanwhile, their holdings of sovereign bonds show a significant home bias, which may have even increased with quantitative easing.

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