I test whether inflation targeting (IT) enhances transparency using inflation forecast data for 11 IT adoption countries. IT adoption promotes convergence in forecast errors, suggesting that it enhances transparency. This effect is robust to dropping observations, is strengthened by using...

This paper studies the effects of Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) forward guidance language. I estimate two policy surprises at FOMC meetings: a change in the current federal funds rate and an orthogonal change in the expected path of the federal funds rate. From February 2000 to June 2003,...

This article examines the communication of European Central Bank (ECB) at press conferences and its impact on financial markets. We compare consecutive central banker conference speeches and document that the similitude of these speeches has been increasing over time. We find evidence that the...

We examine the impact of unconventional monetary policy (UMP) on tail risks in the stock market and risks of extreme interest rate movements. We find that UMP announcements substantially reduced option-implied equity market tail risks and interest rate risks. Most of the impact derives from...

This paper examines whether central bank communication stabilises euro area inflation expectations through the information and news channel. A novelty of the study is its use of data from Google Analytics on ECB website traffic as proxy for visitors' attention to its communication. We conduct...

This paper studies central bank communication of the ECB as a potential factor that explains the contribution to systemic risk for a panel of large banks in the Eurozone between 2002 and 2018. The empirical evidence suggests that the ECB is able to use central bank communication to effectively...

We examine how the language used by central bank officials in public press conferences influences stock returns in the euro area. In line with the concept of Odyssean Forward Guidance, we find that using constraining language to express policy commitment increases the effectiveness of Forward...

This paper documents that ECB announcements increase the stock market volatility in the euro area (EA) on the same day. I consider two volatility measures from January 1998 to May 2019. First, a realized volatility measure uses intraday data for 8 different stock market indices. Second, a range...

Successfully managing a course back to normality ("exit") will depend crucially on the central banks' ability to communicate effectively a credible strategy for an orderly exit from such kind of policies. In this context, clear, deliberate, coordinated messages that are anchored in the central...

Using an event-study design, we investigate monetary policy interest-rate-to-performance sensitivity of the European banking sector over the 07/2012-06/2017 period when interest rates were (close to) zero. We apply the Wordscores approach to introductory statements of ECB's Governing Council...