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The Monetary Policy of the ECB: A Robin Hood Approach?

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  • Marcus Drometer
  • Thomas Siemsen
  • Sebastian Watzka

Abstract

We derive counterfactual national interest rate paths for the 17 Euro Area countries for the period 1999 to 2012 to approximate the interest rates countries would have implemented had they still been able to conduct independent monetary policy. We find that prior to the financial crisis the counterfactual interest rates for Germany trace the realized EONIA rate very closely, while monetary policy has been too loose especially for the southern European countries. This situation was inverted with the onset of the financial crisis. To shed light on the underlying decision rule of the ECB, we rank different mechanisms according to their ability to aggregate the national counterfactual paths to the EONIA rate. We find that mechanisms which focus on countries which fare economically worse than the Euro Area average explain the EONIA path best.

Suggested Citation

  • Marcus Drometer & Thomas Siemsen & Sebastian Watzka, 2013. "The Monetary Policy of the ECB: A Robin Hood Approach?," CESifo Working Paper Series 4178, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_4178
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    Cited by:

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    2. Hamza Bennani, 2013. "Does the ECB consider the persistence of inflation differentials?," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 33(3), pages 2129-2139.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    decision rule; aggregation rule; counterfactual interest rate path; ECB; Bundesbank;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E02 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General - - - Institutions and the Macroeconomy
    • E42 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Monetary Sytsems; Standards; Regimes; Government and the Monetary System
    • E47 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Forecasting and Simulation: Models and Applications
    • 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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