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Testing Commitment Models of Monetary Policy: Evidence from OECD Economies

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  • MATTHEW DOYLE
  • BARRY FALK

Abstract

Inflation in many Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD) countries was low in the 1960s, rose for a time before peaking in the 1970s or early 1980s, and then fell back to initial levels. This paper shows that a simple time inconsistency model of monetary policy does not explain OECD inflation outcomes, except in the United States. The hypothesis that time inconsistency mattered only in earlier decades fits the data no better than the baseline model. We find some, albeit limited support for a model in which inflation spills over from the United States into other countries as a result of exchange rate targeting.

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  • Matthew Doyle & Barry Falk, 2008. "Testing Commitment Models of Monetary Policy: Evidence from OECD Economies," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 40(2‐3), pages 409-425, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:jmoncb:v:40:y:2008:i:2-3:p:409-425
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1538-4616.2008.00119.x
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    Cited by:

    1. Alfred A. Haug & Ian P. King, 2011. "Empirical Evidence on Inflation and Unemployment in the Long Run," Department of Economics - Working Papers Series 1128, The University of Melbourne.
    2. Sudhanshu Kumar & Naveen Srinivasan & Muthiah Ramachandran, 2012. "A time‐varying parameter model of inflation in India," Indian Growth and Development Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 5(1), pages 25-50, April.
    3. Gabriel Caldas Montes, 2014. "Can inflation targeting mitigate monetary policy time-inconsistency?," Journal of Economic and Financial Studies (JEFS), LAR Center Press, vol. 2(2), pages 15-25, April.
    4. Doyle, Matthew & Falk, Barry, 2010. "Do asymmetric central bank preferences help explain observed inflation outcomes?," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 527-540, June.
    5. Juan Camilo Galvis Ciro, 2018. "La inconsistencia temporal y la inflación: evidencias empíricas para la economía colombiana," Ensayos de Economía 16777, Universidad Nacional de Colombia Sede Medellín.
    6. Naveen Srinivasan & Pratik Mitra, 2014. "The European unemployment problem: its cause and cure," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 47(1), pages 57-73, August.
    7. Julio Cesar Albuquerque Bastos & Helder Ferreira de Mendonça & Gabriel Montes, 2014. "Time-inconsistency problem: less common than we think," Journal of Economic Studies, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 41(5), pages 708-720, September.
    8. Divino, José Angelo, 2009. "Monetary Policy Rules Across OECD Countries," Revista Brasileira de Economia - RBE, EPGE Brazilian School of Economics and Finance - FGV EPGE (Brazil), vol. 63(1), April.
    9. Bohn, Frank, 2013. "Grand corruption instead of commitment? Reconsidering time-inconsistency of monetary policy," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 478-490.
    10. Matthew Doyle & Jean-Paul Lam, 2010. "Is the New Keynesian Explanation of the Great Dis-Inflation Consistent with the Cross Country Data?," Working Papers 1010, University of Waterloo, Department of Economics, revised Oct 2010.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E31 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Price Level; Inflation; Deflation
    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy
    • E58 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Central Banks and Their Policies

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