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Has the information channel of monetary policy disappeared? Revisiting the empirical evidence

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Abstract

Does the Federal Reserve have an "information advantage" in forecasting macroeconomic variables beyond what is known to private sector forecasters? And are market participants reacting only to monetary policy shocks or also to information on the future state of the economy that the Federal Reserve communicates in its announcements via an "information channel"? This paper investigates the evolution of both the information advantage and information channel over time. Although they appear to be important historically, we find substantially weaker empirical evidence of their presence in the recent years once instabilities are accounted for.

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  • Lukas Hoesch & Barbara Rossi & Tatevik Sekhposyan, 2020. "Has the information channel of monetary policy disappeared? Revisiting the empirical evidence," Economics Working Papers 1701, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, revised Jul 2021.
    • Handle: RePEc:upf:upfgen:1701
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    1. Taeyoung Doh & Dongho Song & Shu-Kuei X. Yang, 2020. "Deciphering Federal Reserve Communication via Text Analysis of Alternative FOMC Statements," Research Working Paper RWP 20-14, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.
    2. Michael D. Bauer & Eric T. Swanson, 2023. "An Alternative Explanation for the "Fed Information Effect"," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 113(3), pages 664-700, March.
    3. Michael D. Bauer & Eric T. Swanson, 2020. "The Fed's Response to Economic News Explains the "Fed Information Effect"," CESifo Working Paper Series 8151, CESifo.
    4. Gardner, Ben & Scotti, Chiara & Vega, Clara, 2022. "Words speak as loudly as actions: Central bank communication and the response of equity prices to macroeconomic announcements," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 231(2), pages 387-409.
    5. Parle, Conor, 2022. "The financial market impact of ECB monetary policy press conferences — A text based approach," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    6. Jarociński, Marek, 2022. "Central bank information effects and transatlantic spillovers," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    7. Karnaukh, Nina & Vokata, Petra, 2022. "Growth forecasts and news about monetary policy," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(1), pages 55-70.
    8. Holtemöller, Oliver & Kriwoluzky, Alexander & Kwak, Boreum, 2020. "Exchange rates and the information channel of monetary policy," IWH Discussion Papers 17/2020, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).
    9. Jochen Güntner, 2022. "Central bank information and private‐sector expectations," Journal of Forecasting, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 41(7), pages 1372-1385, November.
    10. Laséen, Stefan, 2020. "Monetary Policy Surprises, Central Bank Information Shocks, and Economic Activity in a Small Open Economy," Working Paper Series 396, Sveriges Riksbank (Central Bank of Sweden).
    11. Andrew B. Martinez, 2020. "Extracting Information from Different Expectations," Working Papers 2020-008, The George Washington University, Department of Economics, H. O. Stekler Research Program on Forecasting.
    12. Christopher S. Sutherland, 2020. "Forward Guidance and Expectation Formation: A Narrative Approach," Staff Working Papers 20-40, Bank of Canada.
    13. Eminidou, Snezana & Zachariadis, Marios, 2022. "Firms’ expectations and monetary policy shocks in the euro area," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    14. Fanelli, Luca & Marsi, Antonio, 2022. "Sovereign spreads and unconventional monetary policy in the Euro area: A tale of three shocks," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    15. Andersson, Fredrik N. G. & Kilman, Josefin, 2021. "A Study of the Romer and Romer Monetary Policy Shocks Using Revised Data," Working Papers 2021:19, Lund University, Department of Economics.
    16. Wenting Liao & Jun Ma & Chengsi Zhang, 2023. "Identifying exchange rate effects and spillovers of US monetary policy shocks in the presence of time‐varying instrument relevance," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 38(7), pages 989-1006, November.
    17. Dimitrios Kanelis & Pierre L. Siklos, 2022. "Emotion in Euro Area Monetary Policy Communication and Bond Yields: The Draghi Era," CQE Working Papers 10322, Center for Quantitative Economics (CQE), University of Muenster.
    18. Christopher S Sutherland, 2022. "Forward guidance and expectation formation: A narrative approach," BIS Working Papers 1024, Bank for International Settlements.
    19. Margaret M. Jacobson & Christian Matthes & Todd B. Walker, 2022. "Inflation Measured Every Day Keeps Adverse Responses Away: Temporal Aggregation and Monetary Policy Transmission," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2022-054, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    20. Bennett Schmanski & Chiara Scotti & Clara Vega, 2023. "Fed Communication, News, Twitter, and Echo Chambers," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2023-036, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    21. Christopher S. Sutherland, 2023. "Forward guidance and expectation formation: A narrative approach," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 38(2), pages 222-241, March.
    22. Ester Faiaa & Sören Karau, 2021. "Systemic Bank Risk and Monetary Policy," International Journal of Central Banking, International Journal of Central Banking, vol. 17(71), pages 1-40, December.
    23. Karau, Sören, 2021. "Monetary policy and Bitcoin," Discussion Papers 41/2021, Deutsche Bundesbank.
    24. Luca Fanelli & Antonio Marsi, 2021. "Unconventional Monetary Policy in the Euro Area: A Tale of Three Shocks," Working Papers wp1164, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Forecasting; monetary policy; instabilities; time variation; survey forecasts; information channel of monetary policy.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C11 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Bayesian Analysis: General
    • C14 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Semiparametric and Nonparametric Methods: General
    • C22 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Time-Series Models; Dynamic Quantile Regressions; Dynamic Treatment Effect Models; Diffusion Processes
    • C52 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Model Evaluation, Validation, and Selection
    • C53 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Forecasting and Prediction Models; Simulation Methods

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