Using disaggregated panel data, we examine how firms change trade credit in response to a monetary tightening. We find that both accounts payable and accounts receivable increase with tighter monetary policy, implying that trade credit helps firms absorb the effect of a credit contraction. Further, both S&P 500 firms and a comparison group of smaller firms increase net trade credit (accounts receivable minus payable), making up for the reduced liquidity associated with tighter policy. However, we find no evidence that large firms play this role more actively than smaller firms.

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This Working Paper should not be reported as representing the views of the IMF. The views expressed in this Working Paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the IMF or IMF policy. Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to further debate. During periods of financial turmoil, increases in risk lead to higher default, foreclosure, and fire sales. This paper introduces a costly liquidation process for foreclosed collateral and endogenous recovery rates in a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model of the financial accelerator. Consistent with empirical evidence, we find that recovery rates are pro-cyclical when collateral is costly to liquidate. Through links between recovery rates, risk premia, and default risk, the model generates an additional liquidity spiral, a feedback loop for the financial accelerator. We illustrate how collateral liquidation and monetary policy alter the impacts of a financial shock. We also show that a government subsidy on collateral liquidity and the endogenous accumulation of liquidity inventory help dampen the liquidity spiral by shoring up recovery rates.

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This Working Paper should not be reported as representing the views of the IMF. The views expressed in this Working Paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the IMF or IMF policy. Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to further debate. This paper empirically explores how fiscal policy (represented by increases in government spending) has asymmetric effects on economic activity at different levels of real interest rates. It suggests that the effect of fiscal policy depends on the level of real rates, since the Ricardian effect is smaller at lower financing costs of fiscal policy. Using threshold regression models on U.S. data, the paper provides new evidence that expansionary government spending is more conducive to short-run growth when real rates are low. It also finds asymmetric effects on interest rates and inflation, and threshold effects associated with substitution between financing methods.