The Effect of Unconventional Monetary Policy on Credit Flows

Business & Economics Faculty SeminarsEconomics Professor Tim Bianco opened the fall semester faculty seminar series on Thursday September 26, presenting his paper, “The Effect of Unconventional Monetary Policy on Credit Flows” prepared jointly with Ana Maria Herrera, Professor of Economics, University of Kentucky. Professor Bianco presented this paper at the Ohio State University Department of Economics 29th Annual Meeting of the Midwest Econometrics Group (MEG 2019).

Their paper evaluates the quantitative effects of unconventional monetary policy in the late 2000s and early 2010s when the federal funds rate hit the zero lower bound (ZLB). They compute credit flows using Compustat data and employ a factor augmented vector autoregression to analyze unconventional monetary policy’s impact on the allocation of credit among firms. They show that the impact of unconventional monetary policy on credit reallocation was substantial, especially for long-term credit. They then inquire what groups of firms accounted for this increased credit reallocation finding that, during the ZLB, unconventional monetary policy reshuffled credit towards firms typically viewed as financially constrained: small, young, high-default and highly leveraged firms. They also show that, during the ZLB, unconventional monetary policy brought about higher credit creation for firms of relatively high investment efficiency, suggesting this policy was key to fueling future economic growth. Download the full text of paper here in .pdf format

Timothy Bianco, Ph.D.

Timothy Bianco is an Assistant Professor of Economics at Allegheny College.  He earned a Ph.D. in Economics at the University of Kentucky, specializing in macroeconomics. Bianco attended Bowling Green University, earning a Master of Arts in Economics (2008) and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Economics and Finance (2006). His research focuses on macroeconomics, banking and corporate finance, and international trade and finance. He served as an Economic and Research Analyst at the Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank for four years, prior to joining the University of Kentucky (2013 – 2018).  He has been published in the Journal of Banking and Finance, the Handbook on Systemic Risk, the Journal of Financial Management and Analysis, and the Federal Reserve’s Economic Commentary.

Ana María Herrera, Ph.D.

Ana María Herrera is a Professor of Economics at the University of Kentucky. She earned both her B.A. and M.A. in Economics at the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia and her Ph.D. in Economics at the University of California in San Diego. Herrera was a Repsol-YPF Fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School in 2005-06 and conducts research in macroeconomics, energy economics and applied econometrics. Her work has been published in the Journal of Monetary Economics, the Journal of Financial Economics, the Journal of Applied Econometrics and the Energy Journal.

The Bruce R. Thompson Center for Business and Economics organizes faculty seminars to provide Allegheny College and visiting faculty the opportunities to give presentations based on their research agendas. Students, faculty and staff attend to learn more about cutting-edge research.