European Central Bank

DeFi-ying the Fed? Monetary policy transmission to stablecoin deposit rates

Does the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy influence the rates on USD-pegged stablecoins? While major stablecoin issuers do not pay interest, investors can earn returns by depositing stablecoins in Decentralized Finance (DeFi) protocols. We document unusually large and persistent spreads between traditional short-term interest rates and DeFi deposit rates, as well as a weak and unstable transmission of policy rate changes.

DeFi-ying the Fed? Monetary policy transmission to stablecoin deposit rates

Does the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy influence the rates on USD-pegged stablecoins? While major stablecoin issuers do not pay interest, investors can earn returns by depositing stablecoins in Decentralized Finance (DeFi) protocols. We document unusually large and persistent spreads between traditional short-term interest rates and DeFi deposit rates, as well as a weak and unstable transmission of policy rate changes.

Fiscal policy and sectoral spillovers in open-economy HANK

Government spending falls disproportionately on non-tradable services. We show empirically that government spending shocks stimulate private consumption along with sizable spillovers to the goods sector and a relative decline in goods prices. We rationalize these findings with a two-sector open-economy HANK model. Uninsurable income risk and precautionary savings lead to a persistent income-driven expansion in private consumption. In the tradable sector, import intensity and limited labor reallocation dampen wage pass-through to prices, matching observed co-movements.

Fiscal policy and sectoral spillovers in open-economy HANK

Government spending falls disproportionately on non-tradable services. We show empirically that government spending shocks stimulate private consumption along with sizable spillovers to the goods sector and a relative decline in goods prices. We rationalize these findings with a two-sector open-economy HANK model. Uninsurable income risk and precautionary savings lead to a persistent income-driven expansion in private consumption. In the tradable sector, import intensity and limited labor reallocation dampen wage pass-through to prices, matching observed co-movements.

Environmental policy uncertainty and cleantech FDI

This paper examines whether environmental policy uncertainty undermines clean-technology investment in the United States by weakening policy-induced investment incentives. Using quarterly project-level data on U.S. greenfield investments from 2007Q1 to 2019Q1, combined with novel news-based indices that separately measure environmental policy salience and environmental policy uncertainty, we find that policy uncertainty substantially offsets the positive investment effects of environmental policy.

Environmental policy uncertainty and cleantech FDI

This paper examines whether environmental policy uncertainty undermines clean-technology investment in the United States by weakening policy-induced investment incentives. Using quarterly project-level data on U.S. greenfield investments from 2007Q1 to 2019Q1, combined with novel news-based indices that separately measure environmental policy salience and environmental policy uncertainty, we find that policy uncertainty substantially offsets the positive investment effects of environmental policy.

Learning probability of default and stress testing

We analyze the Probability of Default (PD) of non-financial corporations in Europe using Random Forests (RF) and assess implications for stress testing the banking sector. To this end, we exploit data on firms’ financial statements (Orbis) and banks’ credit registry (Anacredit). We show that RF displays stronger risk sensitivity than logistic regression in stress testing, shedding new light on the non-linear effect of scenario severity on PD.

Learning probability of default and stress testing

We analyze the Probability of Default (PD) of non-financial corporations in Europe using Random Forests (RF) and assess implications for stress testing the banking sector. To this end, we exploit data on firms’ financial statements (Orbis) and banks’ credit registry (Anacredit). We show that RF displays stronger risk sensitivity than logistic regression in stress testing, shedding new light on the non-linear effect of scenario severity on PD.

Banks’ funding structures and pass-through in the euro area

This paper investigates the interest rate pass-through of monetary policy in the euro area by focusing on the role of banks’ funding structures. We estimate the interest rate pass-through for loans to non-financial corporations using bank-level balance sheet data. In doing so, we interact the response of lending rates with characteristics of the funding structure, and show that banks that rely more on bond issuance than on the money market tend to be less responsive to policy changes.

Hidden in the aggregate: the cyclicality of EU labour force participation

We estimate the cyclical response of labour force participation to growth shocks across EU regions. We use a shift-share instrumental variable approach and local projections on EU Labour Force Survey microdata covering 15 countries and 114 regions over 2000–2020. The aggregate labour force participation rate is remarkably resilient, a clear contrast to the highly cyclical participation rate documented for the U.S. However, this resilience masks pronounced demographic heterogeneity.

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