Working Paper Series no. 127: Central Bank Reputation in a Forward-Looking Model

Abstract

This paper examines whether reputation concerns can induce the central bank to implement the time-inconsistent optimal monetary policy in a standard New Keynesian model. The forward-looking nature of this model is in this respect interesting on two accounts: first, it worsens the time-inconsistency problem of optimal monetary policy by adding a stabilization bias to the possible inflation bias; second, it enables us to model more satisfactorily the reputation of the central bank by accounting for the coordination of the private agents on the punishment length. Our results suggest that the inflation bias and the stabilization bias can be overcome for the calibrations used in the literature. These results enable us to endogenize Woodford's timeless perspective and weaken the case for monetary policy delegation.

Olivier Loisel
June 2005

Classification JEL : E52, E58, E61.

Keywords : commitment, discretion, inflation bias, reputation, stabilization bias, timeless perspective.