← Search

Journal of Finance Vol. 52 No. 2 1997

On Stock Market Returns and Monetary Policy

Willem Thorbecke1,2

1 Asian Development Bank Institute · 2 Levy Economics Institute of Bard College

open access

Abstract

Financial economists have long debated whether monetary policy is neutral. This article addresses this question by examining how stock return data respond to monetary policy shocks. Monetary policy is measured by innovations in the federal funds rate and nonborrowed reserves, by narrative indicators, and by an event study of Federal Reserve policy changes. In every case the evidence indicates that expansionary policy increases ex‐post stock returns. Results from estimating a multi‐factor model also indicate that exposure to monetary policy increases an asset's ex‐ante return.

DOI
10.1111/j.1540-6261.1997.tb04816.x
Volume
52
Issue
2
Pages
635-654
Language
en
Sources
crossref openalex

Cite