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Legal Central Bank Independence and Inflation in Latin America During the 1990s

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  • Mr. Luis Ignacio Jácome

Abstract

This paper reviews central banks’ legal reform in Latin America during the 1990s and discusses the status of central bank independence in the region. Based on this information, it builds a simplified index of central bank independence which, in addition to the commonly used criteria of political and economic independence, incorporates provisions of central banks’ financial autonomy, accountability, and lender-of-last-resort. The paper finds a moderate negative correlation between increased central bank independence and inflation during 1999–2001 in 14 Latin American countries. Dissagregating the index, the same analysis suggests that economic independence is the key component driving the observed negative correlation between legal central bank independence and inflation.

Suggested Citation

  • Mr. Luis Ignacio Jácome, 2001. "Legal Central Bank Independence and Inflation in Latin America During the 1990s," IMF Working Papers 2001/212, International Monetary Fund.
    • Handle: RePEc:imf:imfwpa:2001/212
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    1. De Gregorio, Jose, 1992. "The effects of inflation on economic growth : Lessons from Latin America," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 36(2-3), pages 417-425, April.
    2. De Gregorio, Jose, 1992. "Economic growth in Latin America," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 59-84, July.
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    Cited by:

    1. Jácome, Luis I. & Vázquez, Francisco, 2008. "Is there any link between legal central bank independence and inflation? Evidence from Latin America and the Caribbean," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 788-801, December.
    2. Cukierman, Alex, 2008. "Central bank independence and monetary policymaking institutions -- Past, present and future," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 722-736, December.
    3. Jeffrey Frankel, 2011. "A Comparison Of Product Price Targeting And Other Monetary Anchor Options, For Commodity Exporters In Latin America," Economía Journal, The Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association - LACEA, vol. 0(Fall 2011), pages 1-70, August.
    4. Berlemann, Michael & Hielscher, Kai, 2011. "A Time-varying Indicator of Effective Monetary Policy Conservatism," Working Paper 112/2011, Helmut Schmidt University, Hamburg.
    5. Mauricio Nunes & Sergio Da Silva, 2008. "Foreign exchange intervention and central bank independence: the Latin American experience," Applied Financial Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 4(5), pages 379-382.
    6. Anita Angelovska - Bezhoska, 2018. "Central bank independence-the case of the National Bank of Republic of Macedonia," Working Papers 2018-01, National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia.
    7. Federico Faveretto & Donato Masciandaro, 2018. "Financial Inequality, group entitlements and populism," BAFFI CAREFIN Working Papers 1892, BAFFI CAREFIN, Centre for Applied Research on International Markets Banking Finance and Regulation, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy.
    8. Donato Masciandaro, 2019. "Populism, Economic Policies, Political Pressure And Central Bank (In)Dependence," BAFFI CAREFIN Working Papers 19111, BAFFI CAREFIN, Centre for Applied Research on International Markets Banking Finance and Regulation, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy.
    9. Hove, Seedwell & Tchana Tchana, Fulbert & Touna Mama, Albert, 2017. "Do monetary, fiscal and financial institutions really matter for inflation targeting in emerging market economies?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(PA), pages 128-149.
    10. Aleksandra A. Maslowska, 2011. "Quest for the Best: How to Measure Central Bank Independence and Show its Relationship with Inflation," Czech Economic Review, Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of Economic Studies, vol. 5(2), pages 132-161, August.
    11. Cristian Dragos & Daniela Beju & Simona Dragos, 2009. "Public and Financial Institutions in Transition Economies: An Overview and Recent Evidences from Central and Eastern Europe," Managing Global Transitions, University of Primorska, Faculty of Management Koper, vol. 7(2), pages 147-170.
    12. Cermeño, Rodolfo & Grier, Robin & Grier, Kevin, 2010. "Elections, exchange rates and reform in Latin America," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(2), pages 166-174, July.
    13. Donato Masciandaro & Francesco Passarelli, 2018. "Populism, Financial Inequality And Central Bank Independence: A Political Economics Approach," BAFFI CAREFIN Working Papers 1874, BAFFI CAREFIN, Centre for Applied Research on International Markets Banking Finance and Regulation, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy.
    14. Mr. Peter Stella & Mr. Ulrich H Klueh, 2008. "Central Bank Financial Strength and Policy Performance: An Econometric Evaluation," IMF Working Papers 2008/176, International Monetary Fund.
    15. Eva Gutiérrez, 2004. "Inflation Performance and Constitutional Central Bank Independence. Evidence from Latin America and the Caribbean," Economía Mexicana NUEVA ÉPOCA, CIDE, División de Economía, vol. 0(2), pages 255-287, July-Dece.
    16. Marc Quintyn, 2009. "Independent agencies: more than a cheap copy of independent central banks?," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 20(3), pages 267-295, September.
    17. Tadadjeu Wemba, Dessy-Karl & Essiane, Patrick-Nelson Daniel, 2018. "Autonomie des Banques Centrales et Finances Publiques en Afrique subsaharienne [Autonomy of Central Banks and Public Finances in Sub-saharan Africa]," MPRA Paper 100828, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Mona Esam Fayed & Asmaa Mohamed Ezzat, 2020. "Central Bank Independence and Democracy: Does Transparency Matter?," Contemporary Economics, University of Economics and Human Sciences in Warsaw., vol. 14(2), June.
    19. Noha Farrag & Ahmed Kamaly, 2007. "Measuring the Degree of Central Bank Independence in Egypt," Working Papers 4, The German University in Cairo, Faculty of Management Technology.
    20. Paresh Kumar Narayan & Seema Narayan & Sagarika Mishra, 2011. "Do Remittances Induce Inflation? Fresh Evidence from Developing Countries," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 77(4), pages 914-933, April.
    21. Jeffrey A. Frankel, 2010. "A Comparison of Monetary Anchor Options, Including Product Price Targeting, for Commodity-Exporters in Latin America," NBER Working Papers 16362, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    22. Ourania Dimakou, 2010. "Central Bank Independence, Bureaucratic Corruption and Fiscal Responses - Empirical Evidence," Birkbeck Working Papers in Economics and Finance 1012, Birkbeck, Department of Economics, Mathematics & Statistics.
    23. Aijaz Ahmad Bhat & Javaid Iqbal Khan & Sajad Ahmad Bhat & Javed Ahmad Bhat, 2023. "Central Bank Independence and Inflation in India: The Role of Financial Development," Studies in Economics and Econometrics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(4), pages 392-407, October.

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