Monetary Stimulus and Bank Lending
Journal of Financial Economics (JFE), Forthcoming
Finance Down Under 2017 Building on the Best from the Cellars of Finance
79 Pages Posted: 21 Feb 2016 Last revised: 19 Jul 2019
Date Written: February 1, 2019
Abstract
The U.S. Federal Reserve purchased both agency mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and Treasury securities to conduct quantitative easing (QE). Using micro-level data, we find that banks benefiting from MBS purchases increase mortgage origination, compared to other banks. At the same time, these banks reduce commercial lending and firms that borrow from these banks decrease investment. The effect of Treasury purchases is different: either positive or insignificant in most cases. Our results suggest that MBS purchases caused unintended real effects and that Treasury purchases did not cause a large positive stimulus to the economy through the bank lending channel.
Keywords: Bank Lending, Quantitative Easing, Mortgage-Backed Securities
JEL Classification: G21, G31, G32, E52, E58
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation