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Corporate Debt Maturity and Monetary Policy

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Abstract

Do firms lengthen the maturity of their borrowing following a flattening of the Treasury yield curve that results from monetary policy operations? We explore this question separately for the years before and during the zero lower bound (ZLB) period, recognizing that the same change in the yield curve slope signifies different states of the economy and monetary policy over the two regimes. We find that the answer is robustly yes for the pre-ZLB period: Firms extended the maturity of their bond issuance by nearly three years in response to a policy-induced reduction of 1 percentage point in the maturity-matched Treasury term spread between the current and previous bond issuance. By comparison, the answer is more nuanced for the ZLB period: The magnitude and significance of the maturity response were even more pronounced during the peak quarter of the financial crisis (the fourth quarter of 2008), but they were much more muted afterward. In addition, we find that the corporate bond credit spread declined consistently following a policy-induced flattening of the yield curve, albeit not significantly after 2008:Q4. Most of these effects are due to the lower term premium, not due to the expected short-term rate. Taken together, these findings indicate that firms tend to adjust the maturity and composition of their debt issuance in order to benefit from changes in the term spread induced by monetary policy. Our analysis illustrates one channel through which unconventional policy operations can affect economic activity, especially when markets are under distress. This can help us understand the transmission of unconventional monetary policy, which has become a vital issue in the low-interest, low-inflation environment that has prevailed since the financial crisis.

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  • Falk Bräuning & José Fillat & J. Christina Wang, 2020. "Corporate Debt Maturity and Monetary Policy," Current Policy Perspectives 88967, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedbcq:88967
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Douglas W. Diamond, 1991. "Debt Maturity Structure and Liquidity Risk," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(3), pages 709-737.
    2. Swanson, Eric T., 2021. "Measuring the effects of federal reserve forward guidance and asset purchases on financial markets," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 32-53.
    3. Refet S Gürkaynak & Brian Sack & Eric Swanson, 2005. "Do Actions Speak Louder Than Words? The Response of Asset Prices to Monetary Policy Actions and Statements," International Journal of Central Banking, International Journal of Central Banking, vol. 1(1), May.
    4. Adrian, Tobias & Crump, Richard K. & Moench, Emanuel, 2013. "Pricing the term structure with linear regressions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(1), pages 110-138.
    5. Choi, Jaewon & Hackbarth, Dirk & Zechner, Josef, 2018. "Corporate debt maturity profiles," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(3), pages 484-502.
    6. Robin Greenwood & Samuel G. Hanson, 2013. "Issuer Quality and Corporate Bond Returns," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 26(6), pages 1483-1525.
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    Cited by:

    1. Deng, Minjie & Fang, Min, 2022. "Debt maturity heterogeneity and investment responses to monetary policy," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    monetary policy; yield curves; corporate finance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E43 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Interest Rates: Determination, Term Structure, and Effects
    • E58 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Central Banks and Their Policies
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill

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