We show that negative interest rate policy (NIRP) has expansionary effects on bank credit supply and firm outcomes through a portfolio rebalancing channel. For identification, we exploit ECB's NIRP and credit register, firm- and bank-level datasets. NIRP affects relatively more banks with higher...

Do banks with low capital extend excessive credit to weak firms, and does this matter for aggregate efficiency? Using a unique data set that covers almost all bank-firm relationships in Italy in the period 2004-2013, we find that, during the Eurozone financial crisis: (i) Under-capitalized banks...