João Sousa

Modelling the Demand for Loans to the Private Sector in the Euro Area

This article studies the determinants of loans to the private sector in the euro area. Using the Johansen methodology, the study identifies one cointegrating relationship linking real loans, GDP and interest rates. This relationship implies that in the long-run real loans are positively related to real GDP and negatively to real short-term and long-term interest rates. Both the signs and the magnitude of the coefficients suggest that the cointegrating vector describes a long-run demand equation. The short-run dynamics of the demand for euro area real loans is subsequently modelled by means of a Vector Error Correction Model (VECM). A number of specification tests performed on the VECM produce satisfactory results, with tests of stability of the model parameters showing no signs of structural breaks during the sample period (1980: 1–1999: 2). All of this suggests that developments in real loans to the private sector in the euro area can be reasonably explained by the model.

Output and inflation responses to credit shocks: are there threshold effects in the euro area?

This paper investigates whether output and inflation respond asymmetrically to credit shocks in the euro area. The methodology, based on a non-linear VAR system, follows work by Balke (2000) for the U.S. The results reveal evidence of threshold effects related to credit conditions in the economy. Consistent with this finding, the impulse responses show some signs of asymmetric responses over the lending cycle. However, the results of the paper suggest that in the euro area non-linearities arising from credit market imperfections may be less pronounced than in the U.S., probably reflecting specific institutional features of its banking sector.

The Transmission of Monetary Policy and Technology Shocks in the Euro Area

This article analyses the response of a set of euro area macroeconomic variables to monetary policy and technology shocks based on structural Vector Auto-regressions (VARs). The data set runs from 1970:1 until 2006:4 and includes a novel long-run series for hours worked per capita in the euro area. We find that real macroeconomic variables follow a hump-shaped response after monetary policy shocks and jump on impact after technology shocks. We also provide evidence that hours worked fall after a positive technology shock. These conclusions are robust to different sample periods and specifications of the variables.