Bank Information Production Over the Business Cycle

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Howes, Cooper; Weitzner, Gregory
• 署名单位: Federal Reserve System - USA; Federal Reserve System Board of Governors; McGill University
• 刊物名称: REVIEW OF ECONOMIC STUDIES
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0034-6527
• DOI: 10.1093/restud/rdaf107
• 发表日期: 2026
• 关键词: lending standards; booms; AREA

摘要

The information banks produce drives their lending decisions and macroeconomic outcomes, but this information is inherently difficult to analyse because it is private. We construct a novel measure of bank information quality from confidential regulatory data that include banks' private risk assessments for US corporate loans. Information quality improves as local economic conditions deteriorate, particularly for new loans, large loans, and loans with higher expected losses. Information quality also declines during periods of rapid local house price appreciation. Our results provide empirical support for theories of countercyclical information production in credit markets.