The Narrow Channel of Quantitative Easing: Evidence from YCC Down Under

Museum & Tours Regional Economy Data & Statistics Careers Blog Press Center

About the New York Fed
- About the New York Fed
- What We Do
- Governance
- Diversity and Inclusion
- Advisory Groups
- Events
- Vendor Information
- Working within the Federal Reserve System, the New York Fed implements monetary policy, supervises and regulates financial institutions and helps maintain the nation's payment systems.
  
  Introducing the New York Innovation Center: Delivering a central bank innovation execution
  
  Do you have a Freedom of Information request? Learn how to submit it.
  
  See the world's largest accumulation of gold as you learn about the New York Fed and Federal Reserve System on a free tour.
  
  The latest Annual Report chronicles the impact of Federal Reserve policies and includes data on the New York Fed's operations.
Markets & Policy Implementation

Economic Research
- Economic Research
- Data & Indicators
- Publications
- PEOPLE
- Liberty Street Economics Blog
- Our economists engage in scholarly research and policy-oriented analysis on a wide range of important issues.
  
  The mission of the Applied Macroeconomics and Econometrics Center (AMEC) is to provide intellectual leadership in the central banking community in the fields of macro and applied econometrics.
  
  The Center for Microeconomic Data offers wide-ranging data and analysis on the finances and economic expectations of U.S. households.
  
  The monthly Empire State Manufacturing Survey tracks the sentiment of New York State manufacturing executives regarding business conditions.
Financial Institution Supervision
- Financial Institution Supervision
- Supervision & Regulation
  - Circulars
  - Regulations
- Reporting Forms & Instructions
  - Reporting Forms
  - Correspondence
- Bank Applications
- Consumer Protection
  - Community Reinvestment Act Exams
  - Frauds and Scams
- As part of our core mission, we supervise and regulate financial institutions in the Second District. Our primary objective is to maintain a safe and competitive U.S. and global banking system.
  
  The Governance & Culture Reform hub is designed to foster discussion about corporate governance and the reform of culture and behavior in the financial services industry.
  
  Need to file a report with the New York Fed? Here are all of the forms, instructions and other information related to regulatory and statistical reporting in one spot.
  
  The New York Fed works to protect consumers as well as provides information and resources on how to avoid and report specific scams.
Financial Services & Infrastructure
- Financial Services & Infrastructure
- Financial Services & Operations
- Financial Market Infrastructure & Reform
- The Federal Reserve Bank of New York works to promote sound and well-functioning financial systems and markets through its provision of industry and payment services, advancement of infrastructure reform in key markets and training and educational support to international institutions.
  
  The New York Fed provides a wide range of payment services for financial institutions and the U.S. government.
  
  The New York Fed offers the Central Banking Seminar and several specialized courses for central bankers and financial supervisors.
  
  The New York Fed has been working with tri-party repo market participants to make changes to improve the resiliency of the market to financial stress.
Community Development
& Education

Staff Reports

The Narrow Channel of Quantitative Easing: Evidence from YCC Down Under

Number 1013
April 2022

JEL classification: E4, E5, G1

Authors: David O. Lucca and Jonathan H. Wright

We study the recent Australian experience with yield curve control (YCC) of government bonds as perhaps the best evidence of how this policy might work in other developed economies. We interpret the evidence with a simple model in which YCC affects prices of both government and other bonds via “broad” transmission channels, but only government bond prices through “narrow” liquidity channels. YCC seemingly worked well in 2020 while the market expected short rates to stay at zero for long. But as the global recovery and inflation gained momentum in 2021, liftoff expectations moved up, the Reserve Bank of Australia purchased most of the outstanding amount of the targeted government bond, and its yield dislocated from other financial market instruments. The model and empirical evidence point to narrow transmission channels playing more prominent roles than broad channels considered in prior studies of quantitative easing (QE), such as portfolio balance effects and signaling about short term rates. We argue that asset-specific narrow channels may be primary transmission mechanisms of quantity-based QE policies as well.

Available only in PDF

AUTHOR DISCLOSURE STATEMENT(S)

David O. Lucca
The author declares that (s)he has no relevant or material financial interests that relate to the research described in this paper.

Jonathan H. Wright
I declare that I have no relevant or material financial interests that relate to the research described in this paper.

By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Statement. You can learn more about how we use cookies by reviewing our Privacy Statement.