What Does Financial Heterogeneity Say About the Transmission of Monetary Policy?

97 Pages Posted: 15 Apr 2020 Last revised: 11 Apr 2022

See all articles by Nishant Vats

Nishant Vats

University of Chicago Booth School of Business

Date Written: March 25, 2020

Abstract

Do financial constraints determine the transmission of monetary policy? I examine this question using the staggered enactment of anti-recharacterization legislation as a source of exogenous variation in creditor rights that loosens firm-financial constraints. A 25 basis-point expansionary monetary policy shock results in a 2 percentage-point higher investment growth among treated (unconstrained) firms. This reflects their flatter marginal cost curves for financing, which amplifies responses to shifts in the marginal benefit curve. The relationship, however, reverses during economic downturns when investment opportunities are scarce. I rationalize these findings in a static model and quantify the channels using a Heterogeneous Agent New Keynesian model.

Keywords: Creditor Rights, Monetary Policy, Financial Frictions, Investment

JEL Classification: D22, K20, E22, E43, E52, G31

Suggested Citation

Vats, Nishant, What Does Financial Heterogeneity Say About the Transmission of Monetary Policy? (March 25, 2020). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3559650 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3559650

Nishant Vats (Contact Author)

University of Chicago Booth School of Business ( email )

5807 S. Woodlawn Avenue
Chicago, IL 60637
United States

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