Does the European Central Bank Speak Differently When in Parliament?

36 Pages Posted: 11 Aug 2022

See all articles by Nicolò Fraccaroli

Nicolò Fraccaroli

Brown University - Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs

Alessandro Giovannini

European Central Bank (ECB) - Directorate General International and European Relations

Jean-Francois Jamet

European Central Bank (ECB)

Eric Persson

European Central Bank (ECB)

Date Written: August, 2022

Abstract

Parliamentary hearings are a fundamental tool to hold independent central banks accountable. However, it is not clear what type of information central banks provide when they communicate with parliaments compared to other existing information channels. In this article, we address this question by comparing the communication of the European Central Bank (ECB) in parliamentary hearings to its communication in the regular press conferences that follow monetary policy decisions. Using text analysis on the ECB President’s introductory statements in parliamentary hearings and press conferences from 1998 to 2021, we show that the ECB uses parliamentary hearings to discuss topics that are less covered in press conferences. We also find that the ECB’s policy stance in the hearings tends to reflect the stance in press conferences, and that the degree of language complexity is similar in the two fora. These findings support the view that the ECB mainly uses parliamentary hearings to further explain policy decisions first presented at press conferences but also to put them in a broader context.

Keywords: Central Bank accountability, Central Bank communication

JEL Classification: E02, E52, E58

Suggested Citation

Fraccaroli, Nicolò and Giovannini, Alessandro and Jamet, Jean-Francois and Persson, Eric, Does the European Central Bank Speak Differently When in Parliament? (August, 2022). ECB Working Paper No. 2022/2705, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4187435 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4187435

Nicolò Fraccaroli (Contact Author)

Brown University - Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs ( email )

111 Thayer Street
Box 1970
Providence, RI 02912-1970
United States

HOME PAGE: http://https://watson.brown.edu/rhodes/people/nicol-fraccaroli

Alessandro Giovannini

European Central Bank (ECB) - Directorate General International and European Relations ( email )

Kaiserstrasse 29
D-60311 Frankfurt am Main
Germany

Jean-Francois Jamet

European Central Bank (ECB) ( email )

Sonnemannstrasse 22
Frankfurt am Main, 60314
Germany

Eric Persson

European Central Bank (ECB) ( email )

Sonnemannstrasse 22
Frankfurt am Main, 60314
Germany

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