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What’s in a Second Opinion? Shadowing the ECB and the Bank of England

Author

Listed:
  • Matthias Neuenkirch

    (University of Aachen)

  • Pierre Siklos

    (Wilfried Laurier University)

Abstract

One way of evaluating how well monetary authorities perform is to provide the public with a regular and independent second opinion. The European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of England (BoE) are shadowed by professional and academic economists who provide a separate policy rate recommendation in advance of the central bank announcement. In this paper, we systematically evaluate this second opinion and find that, first, the shadow committee of the ECB tends to be relatively less inflation averse than the ECB. In contrast, the shadow committee of the BoE proposes a more hawkish monetary policy stance than the BoE. Second, consensus within a shadow committee is far easier to reach when there is no pressure to change the policy rate. Third, the ECB’s shadow committee is more activist than the ECB’s Governing Council and a larger degree of consensus within the former brings about a greater likelihood that the two committees will agree.

Suggested Citation

  • Matthias Neuenkirch & Pierre Siklos, 2011. "What’s in a Second Opinion? Shadowing the ECB and the Bank of England," MAGKS Papers on Economics 201131, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung).
    • Handle: RePEc:mar:magkse:201131
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    Cited by:

    1. Pierre L. Siklos & Matthias Neuenkirch, 2015. "How Monetary Policy Is Made: Two Canadian Tales," International Journal of Central Banking, International Journal of Central Banking, vol. 11(1), pages 225-250, January.
    2. Matthias Neuenkirch & Pierre Siklos, 2014. "When is Lift-Off? Evaluating Forward Guidance from the Shadow," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 25(5), pages 819-839, November.
    3. Bauer, Christian & Neuenkirch, Matthias, 2017. "Forecast uncertainty and the Taylor rule," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 99-116.
    4. Horváth, Roman & Jonášová, Júlia, 2015. "Central banks' voting records, the financial crisis and future monetary policy," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 229-243.
    5. Pierre Siklos & Matthias Neuenkirch, 2014. "Good Governance of Monetary Policy in Canada: Lessons from the C.D. Howe Institute’s Shadow Council," e-briefs 188, C.D. Howe Institute.
    6. Conrad, Christian & Hartmann, Matthias, 2019. "On the determinants of long-run inflation uncertainty: Evidence from a panel of 17 developed economies," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 233-250.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Committee Behavior; Monetary Policy Committees; Shadow Councils; Taylor Rules;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E43 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Interest Rates: Determination, Term Structure, and Effects
    • 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
    • E61 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Policy Objectives; Policy Designs and Consistency; Policy Coordination

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