Zombie Credit and (Dis-)Inflation: Evidence from Europe

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Acharya, Viral v.; Crosignani, Matteo; Eisert, Tim; Eufinger, Christian
• 署名单位: National Bureau of Economic Research; Centre for Economic Policy Research - UK; Universidade Nova de Lisboa; University of Navarra
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF FINANCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-1082
• DOI: 10.1111/jofi.13342
• 发表日期: 2024
• 页码: 1883-1929
• 关键词: MARKET POWER; misallocation; inflation; markups; PRODUCTIVITY; cost

摘要

We show that zombie credit-subsidized credit to nonviable firms-has a disinflationary effect. By keeping these firms afloat, zombie credit creates excess aggregate supply, thereby putting downward pressure on prices. Granular European data on inflation, firms, and banks confirm this mechanism. Markets affected by a rise in zombie credit experience lower firm entry and exit, capacity utilization, markups, and inflation, as well as a misallocation of capital and labor, which results in lower productivity, investment, and value added. If weakly capitalized banks were recapitalized in 2009, inflation in Europe would have been up to 0.21 percentage points higher post-2012.