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A decade of dissent: explaining the dissent voting behavior of Bank of England MPC members

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  • Mark Harris
  • Paul Levine
  • Christopher Spencer

Abstract

We examine the dissent voting record of the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) in its first decade. Probit estimates indicate the impact of career experience on dissent voting is negligible, whereas the impact of forecast inflation is pronounced. In addition to finding a role for dynamics, we also find a role for unobserved heterogeneity in the form of member-specific fixed-effects, suggesting previous literature characterizing voting behavior as largely determined by whether members are appointed from within or outside the ranks of Bank of England staff (internal and external members respectively) is overly simplistic.
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Suggested Citation

  • Mark Harris & Paul Levine & Christopher Spencer, 2011. "A decade of dissent: explaining the dissent voting behavior of Bank of England MPC members," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 146(3), pages 413-442, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:kap:pubcho:v:146:y:2011:i:3:p:413-442
    DOI: 10.1007/s11127-010-9597-6
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Bank of England; Monetary Policy Committee; Career background effects; Dissent voting; Appointment channels; Unobserved heterogeneity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D7 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making
    • E5 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit
    • C35 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Discrete Regression and Qualitative Choice Models; Discrete Regressors; Proportions

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