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Does Central Bank Communication Signal Future Monetary Policy in a (post)-Crisis Era? The Case of the ECB

Author

Listed:
  • Hamza Bennani

    (EconomiX - EconomiX - UPN - Université Paris Nanterre - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Nicolas Fanta
  • Pavel Gertler
  • Roman Horvath

Abstract

We examine the European Central Bank's ad-hoc communication and explore how it informs future monetary policy decisions. Using the rich dataset of the inter-meeting verbal communication by the members of the European Central Bank's Governing Council between 2008 and 2016, we construct a measure of communication evaluating its inclination towards easing, tightening or maintaining the monetary policy stance. We find that this measure provides useful additional information about future monetary policy decisions, even when we control for market-based interest rate expectations and lagged decisions. Our results also suggest that, in particular, communication related to conventional measures and/or by the ECB President explain the future ECB rate changes well. All aforementioned results hold also in the environment of the zero lower bound. Overall, these results point to the importance of transparent communication in understanding the future course of monetary policy.

Suggested Citation

  • Hamza Bennani & Nicolas Fanta & Pavel Gertler & Roman Horvath, 2020. "Does Central Bank Communication Signal Future Monetary Policy in a (post)-Crisis Era? The Case of the ECB," Post-Print hal-02486315, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02486315
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-02486315
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    1. Jonne Lehtimäki & Marianne Palmu, 2022. "Who Should You Listen to in a Crisis? Differences in Communication of Central Bank Policymakers," Journal of Central Banking Theory and Practice, Central bank of Montenegro, vol. 11(3), pages 33-57.
    2. Paloviita, Maritta & Haavio, Markus & Jalasjoki, Pirkka & Kilponen, Juha & Vänni, Ilona, 2020. "Reading between the lines : Using text analysis to estimate the loss function of the ECB," Research Discussion Papers 12/2020, Bank of Finland.
    3. Gnan, Phillipp & Rieder, Kilian, 2023. "The (not so) quiet period: Communication by ECB decision-makers during monetary policy blackout days☆," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    4. Thang Ngoc Doan & Dong Phu Do & Dat Van Luong, 2023. "Monetary stance and favorableness of the monetary policy in the media: the case of Vietnam," Journal of Asian Business and Economic Studies, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 31(2), pages 111-123, August.
    5. Ren Wang & Wenhao Jia & Ran Sun, 2024. "“Words” and “actions” of environmental policy and their effects on regional green development: an empirical research based on China’s 88 cities," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(10), pages 26909-26944, October.
    6. Ehrmann, Michael & Wabitsch, Alena, 2022. "Central bank communication with non-experts – A road to nowhere?," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 69-85.
    7. Anastasiou, Dimitris & Krokida, Styliani-Iris & Tsouknidis, Dimitris & Drakos, Konstantinos, 2023. "Can the tone of central bankers’ speeches discourage potential bank borrowers in the Eurozone?," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    8. Agam Shah & Sudheer Chava, 2023. "Zero is Not Hero Yet: Benchmarking Zero-Shot Performance of LLMs for Financial Tasks," Papers 2305.16633, arXiv.org.
    9. Sensoy, Ahmet & Uzun, Sevcan & Lucey, Brian M., 2021. "Commonality in FX liquidity: High-frequency evidence," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 39(C).
    10. repec:zbw:bofrdp:2020_012 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Rieder, Kilian, 2022. "Monetary policy decision-making by committee: Why, when and how it can work," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    12. Donato Masciandaro & Davide Romelli & Gaia Rubera, 2021. "Monetary policy and financial markets: evidence from Twitter traffic," BAFFI CAREFIN Working Papers 21160, BAFFI CAREFIN, Centre for Applied Research on International Markets Banking Finance and Regulation, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy.
    13. Donato Masciandaro & Oana Peia & Davide Romelli, 2024. "Central bank communication and social media: From silence to Twitter," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(2), pages 365-388, April.
    14. Ferrara, Federico Maria & Angino, Siria, 2022. "Does clarity make central banks more engaging? Lessons from ECB communications," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    15. Agam Shah & Suvan Paturi & Sudheer Chava, 2023. "Trillion Dollar Words: A New Financial Dataset, Task & Market Analysis," Papers 2305.07972, arXiv.org.
    16. Donato Masciandaro & Davide Romelli & Gaia Rubera, 2021. "Monetary policy, Twitter and financial markets: evidence from social media traffic," BAFFI CAREFIN Working Papers 21160, BAFFI CAREFIN, Centre for Applied Research on International Markets Banking Finance and Regulation, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy.
    17. Paloviita, Maritta & Haavio, Markus & Jalasjoki, Pirkka & Kilponen, Juha & Vänni, Ilona, 2020. "Reading between the lines: Using text analysis to estimate the loss function of the ECB," Bank of Finland Research Discussion Papers 12/2020, Bank of Finland.
    18. de Haan, Jakob & Hoogduin, Lex, 2024. "ECB communication policies: An overview and comparison with the Federal Reserve," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    19. Gnan, Phillipp & Rieder, Kilian, 2022. "The (Not So) Quiet Period: Communication by ECB Decision-makers during Monetary Policy Blackout Days," CEPR Discussion Papers 15735, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    20. Assenmacher, Katrin & Glöckler, Gabriel & Holton, Sarah & Trautmann, Peter & Ioannou, Demosthenes & Mee, Simon & Alonso, Conception & Argiri, Eleni & Arigoni, Filippo & Bakk-Simon, Klára & Bergbauer, , 2021. "Clear, consistent and engaging: ECB monetary policy communication in a changing world," Occasional Paper Series 274, European Central Bank.
    21. Magdalena Szyszko & Aleksandra Rutkowska, 2022. "Do words transform into actions? The consistency of central banks’ communications and decisions," Equilibrium. Quarterly Journal of Economics and Economic Policy, Institute of Economic Research, vol. 17(1), pages 31-49, March.
    22. Amrendra Pandey & Jagadish Shettigar & Amarnath Bose, 2021. "Evaluation of the Inflation Forecasting Process of the Reserve Bank of India: A Text Analysis Approach," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(3), pages 21582440211, July.
    23. Kim, Hyerim & Kang, Kyu Ho, 2022. "The Bank of Korea watch," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • 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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