Clarity of Central Bank Communication About Inflation

26 Pages Posted: 2 Jun 2015

See all articles by Aleš Bulíř

Aleš Bulíř

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Martin Čihák

International Monetary Fund (IMF); World Bank

David-Jan Jansen

De Nederlandsche Bank ; Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, School of Business and Economics; Tinbergen Institute

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Date Written: January 2012

Abstract

This paper examines whether the clarity of central bank communication about inflation has changed with the economic environment. We use readability statistics and content analysis to study the clarity of communication on the inflation outlook by seven central banks between 1997 and 2010. Overall, we find no strong indications that central banks were less clear in explaining their policies when faced with higher uncertainty or a less favorable inflation outlook. The global financial crisis, however, did have a negative impact on clarity of central bank communication.

Keywords: inflation, central bank, monetary policy, inflation target, national bank, monetary fund, financial stability, inflation targeting, price stability, inflation forecasts, aggregate demand, monetary policy decisions, high inflation, inflation targeting regime, percent inflation

Suggested Citation

Bulir, Ales and Cihak, Martin and Cihak, Martin and Jansen, David-Jan, Clarity of Central Bank Communication About Inflation (January 2012). IMF Working Paper No. 12/9, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2613292

Ales Bulir (Contact Author)

International Monetary Fund (IMF) ( email )

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Martin Cihak

World Bank ( email )

1818 H Street NW
Washington, DC 20433
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International Monetary Fund (IMF) ( email )

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Washington, DC 20431
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David-Jan Jansen

De Nederlandsche Bank ( email )

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1000 AB Amsterdam
Netherlands

HOME PAGE: http://sites.google.com/site/djansenresearch

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, School of Business and Economics ( email )

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Amsterdam, 1081HV
Netherlands

Tinbergen Institute ( email )

Burg. Oudlaan 50
Rotterdam, 3062 PA
Netherlands

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