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Crossing the Credit Channel: Credit Spreads and Firm Heterogeneity

Author

Listed:
  • Gareth Anderson
  • Ambrogio Cesa-Bianchi

Abstract

Firms with high leverage experience a more pronounced increase in credit spreads than firms with low leverage in response to a monetary policy tightening. A large fraction of this increase is due to a component of credit spreads that is in excess of firms' expected default risk. A stylized heterogeneous firm model with default risk, financially constrained intermediaries, and segmented financial markets is able to account for these facts. Our findings imply that financial intermediaries play an important role in shaping the transmission of monetary policy to firm-level outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Gareth Anderson & Ambrogio Cesa-Bianchi, 2024. "Crossing the Credit Channel: Credit Spreads and Firm Heterogeneity," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 16(3), pages 417-446, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejmac:v:16:y:2024:i:3:p:417-46
    DOI: 10.1257/mac.20210455
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Canofari, Paolo & Cucculelli, Marco & Piergallini, Alessandro & Renghini, Matteo, 2025. "Tightening monetary policy and investment dynamics in the European Monetary Union: Firm- and country-level heterogeneity," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    2. Bauer, Michael D. & Offner, Eric A. & Rudebusch, Glenn D., 2025. "Green stocks and monetary policy shocks: Evidence from Europe," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    3. Joachim Jungherr & Matthias Meier & Timo Reinelt & Immo Schott, 2022. "Corporate Debt Maturity Matters For Monetary Policy," CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series crctr224_2022_360, University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany.
    4. Tarik Alperen Er & Burak Deniz & Ibrahim Yarba, 2025. "Loan Spreads over the Credit Cycle," Working Papers 2510, Research and Monetary Policy Department, Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey.
    5. Boehl, Gregor & Lieberknecht, Philipp, 2025. "The hockey stick Phillips curve and the effective lower bound," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    6. Ren, Yi-Shuai & Klein, Tony & Jiang, Yong, 2025. "Unveiling the asymmetric dynamic spillovers in industry bond credit risk: Is the energy industry the prime mover?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    7. Jursa, Lukáš & Janků, Jan, 2025. "From the core to the European periphery: Spillover effects of financial cycles," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    8. Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye, 2025. "The heterogeneous impact of monetary policy announcements on firms' financial outcomes," BIS Papers chapters, in: Bank for International Settlements (ed.), How can central banks take account of differences across households and firms for monetary policy?, volume 127, pages 295-330, Bank for International Settlements.
    9. Er, Tarık Alperen & Deniz, Burak & Yarba, İbrahim, 2025. "Loan spreads over the credit cycle," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    10. Konrad Kuhmann, 2025. "Bank Specialization and the Transmission of Euro Area Monetary Policy," Working Papers 2025/06, Latvijas Banka.
    11. Okan Akarsu & Mehmet Selman Colak & Hatice Karahan & Huzeyfe Torun, 2025. "The Heterogeneous Impact of Monetary Policy Announcements on Firms’ Financial Outcomes," Working Papers 2514, Research and Monetary Policy Department, Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey.
    12. Bianco, Timothy & Herrera, Ana María, 2025. "Monetary policy and credit flows: A tale of two effective lower bounds," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    13. Domenech Palacios, Mar, 2025. "Firms’ risk and monetary transmission: revisiting the excess bond premium," Working Paper Series 3118, European Central Bank.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
    • E43 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Interest Rates: Determination, Term Structure, and Effects
    • E44 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Financial Markets and the Macroeconomy
    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy
    • 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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