Euro area banks' asset-liability dependency and unconventional monetary policy over the years 2013–2021: Does size matter?

Abstract

Focusing on a sample of euro area commercial banks, we investigate the evolution of the asset-liability dependency over the years 2013–2021, characterized by the introduction of monetary, supervisory and institutional policy measures that shaped a business environment never experienced before. We find that large banks show a stronger asset-liability dependency than small banks, and that the linkages between the two sides of the balance sheet experience a general upward trend over time for both groups of intermediaries. We report evidence of the presence of two transmission channels of the unconventional monetary policy, namely, the direct pass-through and the portfolio rebalancing.