The Low-Frequency Impact of Daily Monetary Policy Shocks

Abstract

With rare exception, studies of monetary policy tend to neglect the timing of innovations to monetary policy instruments. Models which take timing seriously are often difficult to compare to standard monetary VARs because each uses different frequencies. We propose using MIDAS regressions that nests both ideas: Accurate (daily) timing of innovations to policy are embedded in a monthly-frequency VAR to determine the macroeconomic effects of high-frequency policy shocks. We find that policy have greatest effects on variables thought of as heavily expectations oriented and that, contrary to some VAR studies, the effects of policy shocks on real variables are small.

Keywords: monetary policy, daily fed funds rate, price puzzle, mixed data frequencies

JEL Classification: C32, C50, E32