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Why Do Politicians Implement Central Bank Independence Reforms?

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  • Sven-Olov Daunfeldt
  • Jörgen Hellström
  • Mats Landström

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to investigate why politicians around the world have chosen to give up power to independent central banks, thereby reducing their ability to fine-tune the economy. A new data-set covering 132 countries, of which 86 countries had implemented such reforms, was collected. Politicians in non-OECD countries were more likely to delegate power to independent central banks if their country has been characterized by a high variability in historical inflation and if they faced a high probability of being replaced. No such effects were found for OECD countries. Copyright International Atlantic Economic Society 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Sven-Olov Daunfeldt & Jörgen Hellström & Mats Landström, 2013. "Why Do Politicians Implement Central Bank Independence Reforms?," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 41(4), pages 427-438, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:atlecj:v:41:y:2013:i:4:p:427-438
    DOI: 10.1007/s11293-013-9391-1
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    1. Central Bank Reform
      by Will Luther in the perfect substitute on 2010-03-15 17:07:00

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    1. Daunfeldt, Sve-Olov & Landström, Mats & Rudholm, Niklas, 2013. "Are Central Bank Independence Reforms Necessary for Achieving Low and Stable Inflation?," Umeå Economic Studies 863, Umeå University, Department of Economics.
    2. Berggren, Niclas & Daunfeldt, Sven-Olov & Hellström, Jörgen, 2014. "Social trust and central-bank independence," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 425-439.
    3. Fahim Al Marhubi, 2021. "Economic Complexity and Inflation: An Empirical Analysis," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 49(3), pages 259-271, September.
    4. Berggren, Niclas & Daunfeldt, Sven-Olov & Hellstrã–M, Jã–Rgen, 2016. "Does social trust speed up reforms? The case of central-bank independence," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 12(2), pages 395-415, June.
    5. Ana Carolina Garriga, 2016. "Central Bank Independence in the World: A New Data Set," International Interactions, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(5), pages 849-868, October.
    6. Richard C. K. Burdekin & Leroy O. Laney, 2016. "Fiscal policymaking and the central bank institutional constraint Una Vez Más: New Latin American evidence," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 167(3), pages 277-289, June.
    7. Dumitriu, Ramona & Stefanescu, Răzvan, 2013. "Decizii strategice ale politicii monetare [Strategic decisions of the Monetary Policy]," MPRA Paper 51242, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 05 Nov 2013.
    8. Michael Berlemann & Kai Hielscher, 2013. "Effective Monetary Policy Conservatism: A Comparison of 13 OECD Countries," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 60(3), pages 267-290, July.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Inflation; Institutional reforms; Monetary policy; Time-inconsistency; E52; E58; P48;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E31 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Price Level; Inflation; Deflation
    • E42 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Monetary Sytsems; Standards; Regimes; Government and the Monetary System
    • 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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