Echevarria Icaza, VictorSosvilla Rivero, Simón Javier2023-06-182023-06-1820172530-0849https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/22889This work was supported by the Banco de España through [grant from Programa de Ayudas a la Investigación 2016–2017 en Macroeconomía, Economía Monetaria, Financiera y Bancaria e Historia Económica]; the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport [grant PRX16/00261]; and the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness [grant ECO2016-76203-C2-2-P].The divergence in sovereign yields has been presented as a reason for the lack of traction of monetary policy. We use a GVAR framework to assess the transmission of monetary policy in the period 2005-2016. We identify sovereign yield divergence as a key mechanism by which the leverage channel of monetary policy worked. Unconventional monetary policy was successful in mitigating this effect. When exploring the channels through which yields may affect the heterogeneous transmission of monetary policy, we find that the reaction of bank leverage depended substantially on where the sovereign yield originated, thus providing a mechanism that explains this heterogeneity. Second, large spillover effects meant that yield divergence decreased the traction of monetary policy even in anchor countries. Third, the heterogeneity in the transmission mechanism can be in part attributed to contagion from euro area wide sovereign stress. Fiscal credibility, therefore, may be an appropriate tool to enhance the output effect of monetary policy. Given the importance of spillovers, this credibility may be achieved by changes in the institutional make up and policies in the euro area.engAtribución-NoComercial 3.0 Españahttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/es/technical reporthttps://www.ucm.es/icei/working-papersopen accessE52E63F45H63Monetary policySpilloversEuro area crisisCrisis económicasDinero5307.06 Fluctuaciones Económicas5304.06 Dinero y Operaciones Bancarias