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QE: is there a portfolio balance effect?

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  • Daniel L. Thornton

Abstract

The Federal Open Market Committee has recently attempted to stimulate economic growth using unconventional methods. Prominent among these is quantitative easing (QE)?the purchase of a large quantity of longer-term debt on the assumption that it will reduce long-term yields through the portfolio balance channel. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and others suggest that QE works through the portfolio balance channel, which implies a strong, statistically significant positive relationship between the public?s holding of long-term Treasury debt and long-term Treasury yields. The author uses the econometric approach of Gagnon et al. (2011) and others to investigate the relationship between a variety of measures of the public?s debt holding and various yield measures in the literature. The empirical results provide virtually no support for the portfolio balance channel.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniel L. Thornton, 2014. "QE: is there a portfolio balance effect?," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, vol. 96(1), pages 55-72.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedlrv:00017
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Orlowski, Lucjan T., 2015. "Monetary expansion and bank credit: A lack of spark," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 510-520.
    2. Belke, Angar & Gros, Daniel & Osowski, Thomas, 2017. "The effectiveness of the Fed’s quantitative easing policy: New evidence based on international interest rate differentials," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(PB), pages 335-349.
    3. Gábor Dávid Kiss & Mercédesz Mészáros, 2020. "Gravity Among Central Bank Balance Sheets: Monetary Policy Spill-Over on FX Volatility," Econometric Research in Finance, SGH Warsaw School of Economics, Collegium of Economic Analysis, vol. 5(1), pages 33-57, June.
    4. Bhar, Ramaprasad & Malliaris, A.G., 2021. "Modeling U.S. monetary policy during the global financial crisis and lessons for Covid-19," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 15-33.
    5. Martijn Boermans & Viacheslav Keshkov, 2018. "The impact of the ECB asset purchases on the European bond market structure: Granular evidence on ownership concentration," DNB Working Papers 590, Netherlands Central Bank, Research Department.
    6. Richard Simmons & Paolo Dini & Nigel Culkin & Giuseppe Littera, 2021. "Crisis and the Role of Money in the Real and Financial Economies—An Innovative Approach to Monetary Stimulus," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-28, March.
    7. Yip, Pick Schen & Brooks, Robert & Do, Hung Xuan & Vo, Xuan Vinh, 2022. "What drives cross-market correlations during the United States Q.E.?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    8. Thornton, Daniel L., 2017. "Effectiveness of QE: An assessment of event-study evidence," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 56-74.
    9. Ledóchowski, Michał & Żuk, Piotr, 2022. "What drives portfolio capital inflows into emerging market economies? The role of the Fed's and ECB's balance sheet policies," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(PB).
    10. Mészáros Mercédesz & Kiss Gábor Dávid, 2020. "Spillover effects of unconventional monetary policy on capital markets in the shadow of the Eurozone: A sample of non-Eurozone countries," Review of Economic Perspectives, Sciendo, vol. 20(2), pages 171-195, June.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E43 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Interest Rates: Determination, Term Structure, and Effects
    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy
    • E44 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Financial Markets and the Macroeconomy
    • E58 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Central Banks and Their Policies

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