Did QE Lead to Lax Bank Lending Standards? Evidence from the Federal Reserve's LSAPs
48 Pages Posted: 11 May 2017 Last revised: 5 Jul 2017
Date Written: June 16, 2017
Abstract
Using confidential loan officer survey data on lending standards and internal risk ratings on loans, we document an effect of large-scale asset purchase programs (LSAPs) on lending standards and risk-taking. We exploit cross-sectional variation in banks’ holdings of mortgage-backed securities to show that the first and third round of quantitative easing (QE1 and QE3) significantly lowered lending standards and increased loan risk characteristics. The magnitude of the effects is about the same in QE1 and QE3, and is comparable to the effect of a one percentage point decrease in the Fed funds target rate.
Keywords: QE, Banks, Risk, SLOOS, STBL
JEL Classification: E43, E52, G21
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation