Available studies on asymmetries in the monetary transmission mechanism within Europe
are invariably based on macro-economic evidence: such evidence is abundant but often
contradictory. This paper takes a different route by using micro-economic data. We use the
information contained in the balance sheets of individual banks (available from the
BankScope database) to implement a case-study on the response of banks in France,
Germany, Italy and Spain to a monetary tightening. The episode we study occurred during …

Available studies on asymmetries in the monetary transmission mechanism within Europe
are invariably based on macro-economic evidence: such evidence is abundant but often
contradictory. This paper takes a different route by using micro-economic data. We use the
informationcontained in the balance sheets of individual banks (available from the
BankScope database) to implement a case study on the response of banks in France,
Germany, Italy, and Spain to a monetary tightening. The episode we study occurred during …