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Credit availability and investment in Italy: lessons from the "Great Recession"

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  • Eugenio Gaiotti

    (Bank of Italy)

Abstract

The paper argues that the traditional difficulty encountered in finding evidence on the effects of credit availability on economic activity depends on the fact that these effects are powerful but rare and vary with the cycle. The global financial crisis offers an opportunity to test this assumption. The paper exploits a unique dataset, including direct information on credit rationing for 1,200 Italian firms over the last twenty years. We find that the elasticity of a firm�s investment to the availability of bank credit has been significant in periods of economic contraction, but not in other periods; that the ability to tap alternative sources of finance is crucial to this result; that during the global crisis the impact of credit constraints on Italian investment in manufacturing was significant.

Suggested Citation

  • Eugenio Gaiotti, 2011. "Credit availability and investment in Italy: lessons from the "Great Recession"," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 793, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    • Handle: RePEc:bdi:wptemi:td_793_11
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Martin Pospisil & Jiri Schwarz, 2014. "Bankruptcy, Investment, and Financial Constraints: Evidence from a Post-Transition Economy," Working Papers 2014/01, Czech National Bank.
    2. Roberto Felici & Elisabetta Manzoli & Raffaella Pico, 2012. "Crisis and Italian households: a microeconomic analysis of mortgage contracts," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 125, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    3. Martina Cecioni & Giuseppe Ferrero & Alessandro Secchi, 2018. "Unconventional Monetary Policy in Theory and in Practice," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Douglas D Evanoff & George G Kaufman & A G Malliaris (ed.), Innovative Federal Reserve Policies During the Great Financial Crisis, chapter 1, pages 1-36, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    4. Giorgio Albareto & Paolo Finaldi Russo, 2012. "Financial fragility and growth prospects: credit rationing during the crisis," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 127, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    5. Valerio Vacca, 2011. "An unexpected crisis? Looking at pricing effectiveness of different banks," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 814, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    6. Steve Bond & Gicoamo Rodano & Nicolas Serrano-Velarde, 2015. "Investment Dynamics in Italy: Financing Constraints, Demand and Uncertainty," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 283, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    7. Emilia Bonaccorsi di Patti & Enrico Sette, 2012. "Bank balance sheets and the transmission of financial shocks to borrowers: evidence from the 2007-2008 crisis," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 848, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    8. Douglas Sutherland & Peter Hoeller, 2012. "Debt and Macroeconomic Stability: An Overview of the Literature and Some Empirics," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1006, OECD Publishing.
    9. Del Giovane, Paolo & Eramo, Ginette & Nobili, Andrea, 2011. "Disentangling demand and supply in credit developments: A survey-based analysis for Italy," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(10), pages 2719-2732, October.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    credit availability; credit channel; Great Recession;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E22 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Investment; Capital; Intangible Capital; Capacity
    • E44 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Financial Markets and the Macroeconomy
    • E51 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Money Supply; Credit; Money Multipliers

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