Are survey expectations theory-consistent? The role of central bank communication and news

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Authors

In this paper we analyze whether central bank communication can facilitate the understanding of key economic concepts. Using survey data for consumers and professionals, we calculate how many of them have expectations consistent with the Fisher Equation, the Taylor rule and the Phillips curve and test, by accounting for three different communication channels, whether central banks can influence those. A substantial share of participants has expectations consistent with the Fisher equation, followed by the Taylor rule and the Phillips curve. We show that having theory-consistent expectations is beneficial, as it improves the forecast accuracy. Furthermore, consistency is time varying. Exploring this time variation, we provide evidence that central bank communication as well as news on monetary policy can facilitate the understanding of those concepts and thereby improve the efficacy of monetary policy.
Original languageEnglish
JournalEuropean Economic Review
Volume85
Pages (from-to)84-111
Number of pages28
ISSN0014-2921
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 01.06.2016
Externally publishedYes

    Research areas

  • Economics - Macroeconomic expectations, Central bank communication, Monetary news, Survey microdata, Consumer forecast accuracy