When agents are liquidity constrained, two options exist - borrow or sell assets. We compare the welfare properties of these options in two economies: in one, agents can borrow (issue inside bonds) and in the other they can sell government bonds (outside bonds). All transactions are voluntary,...

Quantitative easing (QE) aims to lower long term interest rates and stimulate economic growth via the portfolio rebalancing channel. One of the assumptions for QE to work is that there are investors with strong preferences to hold long term bonds, i.e. so called preferred habitat investors. This...

We explore the transmission of the ECB's public sector asset purchase programme (PSPP) via the portfolio rebalancing of investment funds and their investors. Evidence for this channel would validate several theoretical propositions and provide insights into market perceptions of intervention...