Monetary Policy and Reaching for Income
利用个人投资组合和共同基金数据，发现低利率显著增加投资者对高股息股票和高收益债券等创收资产的需求，这种追逐收入行为影响家庭投资选择和资产价格，并探讨其对资本配置和货币政策有效性的含义。
ABSTRACT Using data on individual portfolio holdings and on mutual fund flows, we find that low interest rates lead to significantly higher demand for income‐generating assets such as high‐dividend stocks and high‐yield bonds. We argue that this “reaching‐for‐income” phenomenon is driven by investors who follow the “living off income” rule‐of‐thumb. Our empirical analysis shows that this preference for current income affects both household portfolio choices and the prices of income‐generating assets. In addition, we explore the implications of reaching for income for capital allocation and the effectiveness of monetary policy.