Cross-sectional financial conditions, business cycles and the lending channel

I document business cycle properties of the cross-sectional distributions of U.S. stock returns and credit spreads. The skewness of returns of financial firms (SRF) best predicts economic activity, while being a barometer for the lending channel—credit supply shifts beyond what is explained by borrowers’ conditions. SRF also predict firm-level investment beyond firms’ balance sheets. Using a structural model, I estimate that while SRF is highly cyclical, shocks to the cross-sectional skewness of financial firms’ asset quality help explain GDP growth in historical episodes. These results point to the cross-section of financial firms playing a prominent role in business cycles.