This paper analyzes the consequences of asymmetric information in credit markets for monetary policy transmission mechanism. It is shown that asymmetric information can reinforce, weaken or overcompensate the effects of the conventional interest rate channel. Crucial is that informational problems lead to an external finance premium, which can be positive or negative for marginal entrepreneurs, i. e. they either have to bear the costs or actually benefit from informational problems. Monetary policy influences this premium, which implies that there is a credit channel of monetary policy due to asymmetric information, but its direction of influence is ambiguous.
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