This paper presents evidence on the monetary transmission process in the euro area, based on macroeconomic data and on micro data on banks. According to the estimations of macro vector autoregression and macroeconometric models, a monetary policy tightening significantly reduces output...

We study how relationship lending and transaction lending vary over the business cycle. We develop a model in which relationship banks gather information on their borrowers, which allows them to provide loans for profitable firms during a crisis. Due to the services they provide, operating costs...

We study how relationship lending and transaction lending vary over the business cycle. We develop a model in which relationship banks gather information on their borrowers, which allows them to provide loans for profitable firms during a crisis. Due to the services they provide, operating costs...

This paper analyses the effectiveness of monetary policy during downturns associated with financial crises. Based on a sample of 24 developed countries, our empirical analysis suggests that monetary policy is less effective following a financial crisis as the monetary transmission mechanism is...

This paper investigates the link between low interest rates and bank risk-taking. Monetary policy may influence banks’ perceptions of, and attitude towards, risk in at least two ways: (i) through a search for yield process, especially in the case of nominal return targets; and (ii) by means of...

The dramatic increase in securitisation activity experienced in Europe in the years following the introduction of the euro has altered the liquidity, credit and maturity transformation role traditionally performed by banks. We claim that the changing role of credit intermediaries due to...

This paper analyses the functioning of monetary policy transmission mechanisms in Italy from 1984 to 1998, highlighting the role performed by the credit system. We extend the Bernanke and Blinder model (1988) to the case of an open economy under a quasi-fixed exchange rate regime, deriving...

This paper offers a comprehensive comparison of the structure of banking and financial markets in the euro area. Based on this, several hypotheses about the role of banks in monetary policy transmission are developed. Many of the predictions that have been proposed for the U.S. are deemed...

Regulation and contract enforcement may be important determinants of the development of the household loan market, as much as they are of the supply of corporate loans on which the literature has focused. This paper draws on the Italian experience to provide evidence that formal and informal...