Lending standards are a direct measure of credit conditions. We use the micro data merged from three separate sources to construct this measure and document that an uncertain macroeconomic outlook, rather than banks' balance sheet positions, was an important reason that a majority of banks tightened bank lending standards during the Great Recession. Our extensive data analysis disciplines how we introduce credit frictions in the banking sector into a macroeconomic model. The model estimation reveals that an exogenous shock to credit supply drives cyclical lending standards and accounts for a significant portion of fluctuations in bank loans and aggregate output.

贷款标准是信用状况的直接衡量标准。我们使用从三个不同来源合并的微观数据来构建这一衡量标准，并证明宏观经济前景的不确定，而不是银行的资产负债表状况，是大多数银行在大衰退期间收紧银行贷款标准的重要原因。我们广泛的数据分析规范了我们如何将银行业的信贷摩擦引入宏观经济模型。模型估计表明，对信贷供应的外生冲击推动了周期性贷款标准，并占银行贷款和总产出波动的很大一部分。