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Political Monetary Cycles and a New de facto Ranking of Central Bank Independence

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Author Info
Alpanda, Sami
Honig, Adam

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Abstract

This paper examines the extent to which monetary policy is manipulated for political purposes by testing for the presence of political monetary cycles between 1972 and 2001. This is the first study of its kind to include not only advanced countries but also a large sample of developing nations where these cycles are more likely to exist. We estimate panel regressions of a monetary policy indicator on an election dummy and control variables. We do not find evidence of political monetary cycles in advanced countries but find strong evidence in developing nations. Based on our results, we construct a new de facto ranking of central bank independence derived from the extent to which monetary policy varies with the election cycle. Our ranking of CBI is therefore based on the behavior of central banks during election cycles when their independence is likely to be challenged or their lack of independence is likely to be revealed. The ranking also avoids well-known problems with existing measures of central bank independence.

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Paper provided by University Library of Munich, Germany in its series MPRA Paper with number 5898.

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Date of creation: Oct 2007
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Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:5898

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Related research
Keywords: Political monetary cycles; central bank independence;

Find related papers by JEL classification:
E58 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Central Banks and Their Policies
E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy

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    Other versions:
  6. Frederic S. Mishkin & Niklas J. Westelius, 2006. "Inflation Band Targeting and Optimal Inflation Contracts," NBER Working Papers 12384, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  7. Haynes, Stephen E & Stone, Joe A, 1989. "An Integrated Test for Electoral Cycles in the U.S. Economy," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 71(3), pages 426-34, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  11. Jean-Francois Segalotto & Marco Arnone & Bernard Laurens, 2006. "The Measurement of Central Bank Autonomy: Survey of Models, Indicators, and Empirical Evidence," IMF Working Papers 06/227, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
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    Other versions:
  13. Alesina, Alberto & Summers, Lawrence H, 1993. "Central Bank Independence and Macroeconomic Performance: Some Comparative Evidence," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 25(2), pages 151-62, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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    Other versions:
  15. Cukierman, Alex & Webb, Steven B & Neyapti, Bilin, 1992. "Measuring the Independence of Central Banks and Its Effect on Policy Outcomes," World Bank Economic Review, Oxford University Press, vol. 6(3), pages 353-98, September.
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    Other versions:
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