Drawing on recent Eurosystem research that uses a range of econometric techniques and a number of new data sets, we propose a comprehensive description of how monetary policy affects the euro area economy. We focus mainly on three questions: (1) what are the stylized facts concerning the transmission of monetary policy for the area as a whole and for individual countries? (2) can the classic' interest rate channel (IRC) alone, without capital market imperfections, explain these facts? (3) if not, is the bank lending channel a likely candidate to complete the story? We find plausible euro-area wide monetary policy responses for prices and output that are similar to those generally reported for the U.S. However, investment (relative to consumption) seems to play a larger role in euro area monetary policy transmission than in the U.S. We cannot reject the hypothesis that the IRC completely characterizes transmission in a few countries, and estimate it to be substantial in almost all. Where the IRC is not dominant, there is normally some direct evidence supporting the presence of a bank lending channel (or other financial transmission channel). The cases where financial effects appear important can be further split according to whether they primarily relate to consumption or investment.
*Published: This paper was subsequently published as Imperfect Knowledge, Inflation Expectations, and Monetary Policy, Athanasios Orphanides, John Williams, in NBER book The Inflation-Targeting Debate (2005)
Angeloni, Ignazio, Anil K. Kashyap, Benoit Mojon and Daniele Terlizzese. "The Output Composition Puzzle: A Difference In The Monetary Transmission Mechanism In The Euro Area And The United States," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, 2003, v35(6,Dec), 1265-1306.
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