Announcements of ECB unconventional programs: Implications for the sovereign risk of Italy

This paper studies the effects of ECB communications about unconventional monetary policy operations on the perceived sovereign risk of Italy over the last five years. More than fifty events concerning non-standard operations are identified and classified with respect to the specific ECB program. The empirical results are derived from both an event-study analysis and a GARCH framework, which uses Italian long-term bond futures to disentangle expected from unexpected policy actions. We find that the ECB announcements about unconventional monetary policies substantially reduced Italian long-term government bond yield spread relative to German counterparts. Particularly, among the different types of measures, news about the Securities Markets Programme and the Outright Monetary Transactions are found to be effective in affecting the perceived sovereign risk of Italy

A DSGE model with Endogenous Term Structure

In this paper, we propose a DSGE model with the term structure of interest rates drawing on the framework introduced by Andrés et al. (2004) and Marzo et al. (2008). In particular, we reproduce segmentation in financial markets by introducing bonds of different maturities and bond adjustment costs non-zero at the steady state, introducing a structural liquidity frictions among bonds with different maturities: agents are assumed to pay a cost whenever they trade bonds. As a result, the model is able to generate a non-zero demand for bonds of different maturities, which become imperfect substitutes, due to differential liquidity conditions. The main properties of the model are analysed through both simulation and estimation exercises. The importance of the results are twofold. On one hand, the calibrated model is able to replicate the stylized facts regarding the yield curve and the term premium in the US over the period 1987:3-2011:3, without compromising its ability to match macro dynamics. On the other hand, the estimation, besides providing an empirical support to the theoretical setting, highlights the potentialities of the model to analyze the term premium in a microfounded macro framework. The results match very closely the behavior of actual yields, reflecting the recent activity of the Fed on longer maturities bonds

Credit, Endogenous Collateral and Risky Assets: A DSGE Model

This paper proposes a new Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) model with credit frictions and a banking sector, which endogenizes loan-to-value (LTV) ratios of households and banks by expressing them as a function of systemic and idiosyncratic proxies for risk. Moreover, the model features endogenous balance sheet choices and a novel formulation of the targeted leverage ratio, in which assets are risk-weighted by risk-sensitivity measures. The results highlighted in this paper are important along two dimensions. First of all, the presence of endogenous LTV ratios exacerbates the procyclicality of lending conditions. Second, the model contributes to deeper understand the role of prudential regulatory frameworks in affecting business cycle fluctuations and in restoring macroeconomic and financial stability. The results suggest that when the economy is severely stressed by shocks originating in the financial sector, prudential regimes such as Basel II and Basel III are capable of downsizing substantially aggregate volatility, with Basel III found to be significantly more effective than Basel II

Forecasting euro area inflation using targeted predictors: is money coming back?

This paper sheds new light on the information content of monetary and credit aggregates for future price developments in the euro area. Overall, we find strong variation in the information content of these variables over time. We show that monetary and credit aggregates are very often selected among the top predictors of inflation, with their predictive power relative to other predictors generally improving in the post-2012 period. An out-of-sample forecasting exercise indicates that, when monetary and credit aggregates are loaded directly in the forecasting equation, the additional gains over the benchmark model are generally high and significant across horizons and HICP components only in the most recent period. When the forecasts are computed using factor-augmented regressions based on the best predictors, we confirm the importance of monetary and credit variables in forecasting inflation, even if their information content is diluted in a much broader pool of variables

Fiscal Policy Announcements of Italian Governments and Spread Reaction during the Sovereign Debt Crisis

This paper attempts to evaluate the effects of fiscal policy announcements by the Italian government on the long-term sovereign bond spread of Italy relative to Germany. After collecting data on relevant fiscal policy announcements, we perform an econometric comparative analysis between the three cabinets that followed one another during the period 2009-2013. The results suggest that only fiscal policy announcements made by members of Monti's cabinet have been effective in influencing the Italian spread, revealing a remarkable credibility gap between Monti's technocratic administration and Berlusconi's and Letta's governments

Spillovers from the ECB's non-standard monetary policies on non-euro area EU countries: evidence from an event-study analysis

Using event-study techniques we investigate the presence and the magnitude of spillovers from the ECB’s non-standard monetary policies on financial assets in selected non-euro area EU countries from Central and Eastern Europe (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Romania). Generally, we find strong evidence of spillover effects from the ECB’s announcements on bond yields. We also find that the SMP announcements resulted in significant spillovers, while those from the OMT and the PSPP announcements were rather limited. Turning to the transmission channels, we argue that spillovers from the SMP announcements went through the portfolio rebalancing and the signalling channels. The transmission of the OMT operated via the confidence channel and for the PSPP we find evidence that both the confidence and the signalling channels were at play

The impact of fiscal policy announcements by the Italian government on the sovereign spread: A comparative analysis

This paper attempts to evaluate the impact of fiscal policy announcements by the Italian government on the long-term sovereign bond spread of Italy relative to Germany. After collecting data on relevant fiscal policy announcements, we perform an econometric comparative analysis between the three administrations that followed one another during the period 2009-2013. The results indicate that only fiscal policy announcements made by members of Monti's cabinet had a significant impact on the Italian spread. We argue that these findings may be partly explained by a credibility gap between Monti's technocratic administration and Berlusconi's and Letta's governments

Evaluating Quantitative Easing: A DSGE Approach

This paper develops a simple Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) model capable of evaluating the effect of large purchases of treasuries by central banks. The model exhibits imperfect asset substitutability between government bonds of different maturities and a feedback from the term structure to the macroeconomy. Both are generated through the introduction of portfolio adjustment frictions. As a result, the model is able to isolate the portfolio rebalancing channel of Quantitative Easing (QE). This theoretical framework is employed to evaluate the impact on yields and the macroeconomy of large purchases of medium- and long-term treasuries recently carried out in the US and UK. The results from the calibrated model suggest that large asset purchases of government assets had stimulating effects in terms of lower long-term yields, and higher output and inflation. The size of the effects is nevertheless sensitive to the speed of the exit strategy chosen by monetary authorities

Evaluating Quantitative Easing: A DSGE Approach

This paper develops a simple Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) model capable of evaluating the effect of large purchases of treasuries by central banks. The model exhibits imperfect asset substitutability between government bonds of different maturities and a feedback from the term structure to the macroeconomy. Both are generated through the introduction of portfolio adjustment frictions. As a result, the model is able to isolate the portfolio rebalancing channel of Quantitative Easing (QE). This theoretical framework is employed to evaluate the impact on yields and the macroeconomy of large purchases of medium- and long-term treasuries recently carried out in the US and UK. The results from the calibrated model suggest that large asset purchases of government assets had stimulating effects in terms of lower long-term yields, and higher output and inflation. The size of the effects is nevertheless sensitive to the speed of the exit strategy chosen by monetary authorities