Central banks

Headwind or tailwind? How banks interpret borrowers’ AI exposure

10/19/2026 European Central Bank Central banks

General-purpose technologies create large opportunities but make their distribution across firms difficult to assess in real time. We use banks as interpreters of the rise of generative AI by studying lender-specific probability-of-default (PD) estimates for private firms in four large euro-area economies. As public attention to AI rises after ChatGPT, banks lower assessed default risk for borrowers in highly AI-exposed industries by about 5%. The reassessment is weaker for labor-intensive firms and stronger among lenders with pre-existing industry expertise.

Headwind or tailwind? How banks interpret borrowers’ AI exposure

10/19/2026 European Central Bank Central banks

General-purpose technologies create large opportunities but make their distribution across firms difficult to assess in real time. We use banks as interpreters of the rise of generative AI by studying lender-specific probability-of-default (PD) estimates for private firms in four large euro-area economies. As public attention to AI rises after ChatGPT, banks lower assessed default risk for borrowers in highly AI-exposed industries by about 5%. The reassessment is weaker for labor-intensive firms and stronger among lenders with pre-existing industry expertise.

Stop believing in haircuts - at least the way you think about them

10/15/2026 European Central Bank Central banks

We study how frictions impact haircut setting in repo markets. Using transaction-level supervisory data and exploiting the 2021 introduction of the binding leverage ratio requirement, we show that three frictions jointly shape haircuts in the bilateral dealer-to-client segment: dealer balance sheet constraints, collateral convenience yields, and client outside options. In collateral-driven repos, binding leverage constraints and broader client outside options both raise haircuts, while higher convenience yields push them down.

When less is more: behavioral effects of CBDC holding limits

10/15/2026 European Central Bank Central banks

Holding limits are a central design feature of proposed retail central bank digital currencies (CBDC). While such limits mechanically prevent individuals from exceeding a maximum balance, they may also generate behavioral responses whose directions are a priori unclear. We conducted an incentivized online experiment with participants from four euro-area countries, exogenously varying the presence and level of a holding limit to causally separate direct mechanical effects from behavioral effects.

Stop believing in haircuts - at least the way you think about them

10/15/2026 European Central Bank Central banks

We study how frictions impact haircut setting in repo markets. Using transaction-level supervisory data and exploiting the 2021 introduction of the binding leverage ratio requirement, we show that three frictions jointly shape haircuts in the bilateral dealer-to-client segment: dealer balance sheet constraints, collateral convenience yields, and client outside options. In collateral-driven repos, binding leverage constraints and broader client outside options both raise haircuts, while higher convenience yields push them down.

When less is more: behavioral effects of CBDC holding limits

10/15/2026 European Central Bank Central banks

Holding limits are a central design feature of proposed retail central bank digital currencies (CBDC). While such limits mechanically prevent individuals from exceeding a maximum balance, they may also generate behavioral responses whose directions are a priori unclear. We conducted an incentivized online experiment with participants from four euro-area countries, exogenously varying the presence and level of a holding limit to causally separate direct mechanical effects from behavioral effects.

FEDS Paper: A Macroeconomic Analysis of Household Labor Supply Responses to Large Fiscal Transfers

10/14/2026 Federal Reserve Central banks

Isabel Cairó, Shigeru Fujita, and Camilo Morales-JimenezThe fiscal transfers deployed during the COVID-19 pandemic were unprecedented in scale and strongly progressive. Using CPS/ASEC data, we document that the decline in employment during the pandemic was larger for low-income households and tightly linked to the intensity of transfer receipt, a pattern absent during the Global Financial Crisis.

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