Monetary policy has real effects through credit supply and demand, and since these changes are mostly unobserved, the complete identification of the credit channel is generally unfeasible. Bank lending surveys by central banks, however, contain reliable quarterly information on changes in loan...

Using a unique dataset of the Euro-area and the U.S. bank lending standards, we find that low (monetary policy) short-term interest rates soften standards for household and corporate loans. This softening--especially for mortgages--is amplified by securitization activity, weak supervision for...

This paper examines the various stages of the sovereign debt crisis of the euro area, the ensuing re-segmentation of several financial market segments and the disruptions in the transmission of monetary policy impulses. The paper provides the first systematic attempt to describe the European...

We examine the link between equity risk premiums and demographic changes using a very long sample over the twentieth century for the US, Japan, UK, Germany and France, and a shorter sample covering the last third of the twentieth century for fifteen countries. We find that demographic variables...

We examine the link between equity risk premiums and demographic changes using a long sample for the United States, Japan, United Kingdom, Germany, and France and a shorter sample for 15 countries. We find demographic variables significantly predict excess returns internationally. However, the...