  Aggregate and systemic risk in complex systems are emergent phenomena
depending on two properties: the idiosyncratic risks of the elements and the
topology of the network of interactions among them. While a significant
attention has been given to aggregate risk assessment and risk propagation once
the above two properties are given, less is known about how the risk is
distributed in the network and its relations with the topology. We study this
problem by investigating a large proprietary dataset of payments among 2.4M
Italian firms, whose credit risk rating is known. We document significant
correlations between local topological properties of a node (firm) and its
risk. Moreover we show the existence of an homophily of risk, i.e. the tendency
of firms with similar risk profile to be statistically more connected among
themselves. This effect is observed when considering both pairs of firms and
communities or hierarchies identified in the network. We leverage this
knowledge to show the predictability of the missing rating of a firm using only
the network properties of the associated node.
