Nicholas A. Zarra

Economist, Federal Reserve Board

Curriculum Vitae

About

Welcome to my webpage! I am an Economist at the Federal Reserve Board in its Capital Markets section. I graduated from NYU Stern with a PhD in Finance. My academic work has been published in the American Economic Review and cited by the IMF Global Financial Stability Report. My policy work has covered in Bloomberg. My main research interests are in asset pricing, financial intermediation, and macro-finance.

Job Market Paper

Prime Broker Credit Supply and the Stock Market: Evidence on Hedge Fund Transmission

with Daniel. J. Barth
UPDATED WITH CONFIDENTIAL DATA RESULTS: Broker-dealer health influences prime brokerage credit supply, which hedge funds usually diversify—except in widespread distress, leading to equity price impact.
  • Cited by: 2026 IMF Global Financial Stability Report,

    • Publications

    Partisanship and Fiscal Policy in Economic Unions: Evidence from US States

    with Jerry Carlino, Thorsten Drautzburg, and Robert Inman
    American Economic Review, March 2023
    The rise of partisan politics in the US diminishes the efficacy of U.S. federal fiscal policy.

    Work in Progress

    Private Liquidity Backstops: Bank Credit Lines and Loan Mutual Funds

    with Andreas Schrimpf, Karamfil Todorov, and Teng Wang
    Contrary to conventional wisdom, mutual funds with high liquidity risk use credit lines as a signaling tool to prevent runs, not to manage outflows.

    Market De-Risking: A Narrative Approach

    with Daniel. J. Barth
    Risk-off episodes have diverse economic triggers but a common intermediary mechanism: levered investors delever, sell equities and other risky assets, and the securities most exposed to them perform poorly.

    Non-Peer Reviewed Publications

    Hedge fund exposure to the carry trade

    with Frank Packer, Andreas Schrimpf, and Vladyslav Sushko
    BIS Quarterly Review, September 2024
    Multi-strategy hedge funds increased carry-trade exposure before August 5th, likely driving market-wide sell-offs during the unwinding event.

    Teaching Experience

    Lecturer in Corporate Finance--2021

    I lectured a 32 person elective course at Stern, receiving perfect teaching reviews (5.0/5.0) and a commendation letter from the school