ECB Research Bulletin

The ECB Research Bulletin is a monthly series from the European Central Bank in Frankfurt running since November 2004 within ECB Research publications. It is written mostly by ECB economists on the staff of the Directorate General Research and signed with unit affiliations. Each issue covers 2 to 3 policy topics and puts specific findings in wider context for a general audience of non-specialists. It focuses on the euro area and the EU with global context where relevant, and it is not the sibling Economic Bulletin.

Articles appear online only as single dated and numbered releases on a monthly basis with no fixed weekday, time or time zone. There is no survey and no collection window because each article summarises existing ECB research rather than gathering new responses. Each article carries an author byline with unit affiliation, numbered footnotes, a reference list, charts with notes and sources, and a copyright line.

Early compiled issues also included a table of contents, forthcoming workshops and conferences, prizes and selected staff journal publications. The publisher states no revision policy and no market reading rule, so no level, threshold or direction applies.

The Bulletin has no statistical components or weights, so its regular elements are the article features below.

• Research summary in wider context: puts 2 to 3 ECB findings in broader policy context.
• Author byline: names authors and their ECB unit plus acknowledgements.
• Figures with notes and sources: charts state data source and aggregation method.
• Reference list: cites the Working Papers and outside literature used.
• Views disclaimer: states views are the authors and not necessarily the ECB.
• Back matter: lists a table of contents, workshops and conferences, prizes and staff journal work in early issues.

Issue 100, dated 31 October 2022, on central bank digital currency as a digital version of cash, shows the format. It sums up Working Papers 2713 and 2662 and cites a Bank for International Settlements survey where almost all respondents actively investigate CBDC potential.

It argues that weaker cash use weakens the promise of perfect convertibility for private money. At low remuneration the indirect effect dominates, so higher remuneration lowers fragility. At high remuneration the direct effect dominates, so higher remuneration raises fragility. In May 2022 the Terra stablecoin and its sister crypto asset Luna collapsed within days with losses above USD 45 billion.

1. No series formula: The Bulletin itself has no formula, weight or seasonal adjustment, and each study keeps its own method summarised in words.
2. Direct effect: Higher CBDC remuneration makes CBDC more attractive, so bank fragility and bank run risk rise.
3. Indirect effect: Banks respond by raising deposit rates, so deposits stay attractive and fragility falls.
4. Net result: At low remuneration the indirect effect dominates, so higher remuneration lowers fragility. At high remuneration the direct effect dominates, so higher remuneration raises fragility.