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The federal funds rate and the implementation of monetary policy: estimating the Federal Reserve's reaction function

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  • Allan D. Brunner

Abstract

Several recent studies have reached quite different conclusions about which variable is the best indicator of the stance of monetary policy. These differences likely reflect varying assumptions about bank and Federal Reserve behavior. This paper takes a detailed and comprehensive look at the implementation of monetary policy and the identification of monetary policy shocks. The paper first outlines a general analytical model for studying and evaluating monetary policy procedures. The model is then used to estimate both the Fed's operational policy objectives and its intermediate objectives. The results can be summarized as follows: First, monetary policy shocks over the past several years have primarily affected the federal funds rate, even during periods when the Fed was reportedly targeting reserves. In addition, the paper finds a statistically-significant liquidity effect in all periods examined, although the effect is quite small. Finally, there is statistical evidence that suggests that the Fed's intermediate objectives have not been stable over time, and these differences appear to be economically important. Taken together, these results indicate that while monetary policy shocks can be uncovered by regressing the funds rate on appropriate variables in the Fed's information set, the reaction function should be estimated over subperiods rather than over the entire 1959-1993 period.

Suggested Citation

  • Allan D. Brunner, 1994. "The federal funds rate and the implementation of monetary policy: estimating the Federal Reserve's reaction function," International Finance Discussion Papers 466, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
  • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedgif:466
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Christian Bordes & Éric Girardin & Velayoudom Marimoutou, 1996. "Le nouveau SME est-il plus asymétrique que l'ancien ?," Économie et Prévision, Programme National Persée, vol. 123(2), pages 175-188.
    2. Normandin, Michel & Phaneuf, Louis, 2004. "Monetary policy shocks:: Testing identification conditions under time-varying conditional volatility," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(6), pages 1217-1243, September.
    3. Ben S. Bernanke & Ilian Mihov, 1998. "Measuring Monetary Policy," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 113(3), pages 869-902.
    4. Allan D. Brunner, 1996. "Using measures of expectations to identify the effects of a monetary policy shock," International Finance Discussion Papers 537, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    5. John Ammer & Allan D. Brunner, 1995. "When is monetary policy effective?," International Finance Discussion Papers 520, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    6. Michael S. Gibson, 1997. "The bank lending channel of monetary policy transmission: evidence from a model of bank behavior that incorporates long-term customer relationships," International Finance Discussion Papers 584, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    7. Thornton, Daniel L., 2001. "The Federal Reserve's operating procedure, nonborrowed reserves, borrowed reserves and the liquidity effect," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 25(9), pages 1717-1739, September.
    8. M. A. Akhtar, 1995. "Monetary Policy And Long‐Term Interest Rates: A Survey Of Empirical Literature," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 13(3), pages 110-130, July.
    9. Mohd Zaini Abd Karim & Amy Azhar Mohd Harif & Azira Adziz, 2006. "Monetary Policy and Sectoral Bank Lending in Malaysia," Global Economic Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(3), pages 303-326.

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