Discussion paper

DP4725 Banks' Loan Portfolio and the Monetary Transmission Mechanism

This Paper compares the responses of bank loan components to a monetary tightening with the responses to negative output shocks. Real estate and consumer loans sharply decrease during a monetary tightening but not after a negative output shock. In contrast, C&I loans (and commercial paper) sharply decrease in response to output shocks, but not in response to a monetary tightening. These results are difficult to reconcile with a bank-lending channel of monetary transmission, in which the supply of commercial and industrial (C&I) loans is constrained. Hedging and bank capital regulation provide reasons why banks may want to substitute out of real estate and consumer loans, and into C&I loans during periods of high interest rates.

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Citation

Den Haan, W, S Sumner and G Yamashiro (2004), ‘DP4725 Banks' Loan Portfolio and the Monetary Transmission Mechanism‘, CEPR Discussion Paper No. 4725. CEPR Press, Paris & London. https://cepr.org/publications/dp4725