Has the Credit Supply Shock Asymmetric Effects on Macroeconomic Variables?

Abstract

We investigate the role played by the credit supply shock across the business cycle in the U.S. over the period 1973 - 2018. We estimate a nonlinear VAR including nominal, real, monetary, and financial variables. According to our results, a credit supply shock triggers asymmetric and negative effects on macroeconomic variables. We find that the state-dependent forecast error variance decomposition of industrial production, employment, and inflation due to the shock is from six to eight times larger in recessions than in normal times.