Does politics drive conflict in central banks’ committees? Lifting the veil on the European Central Bank consensus

Manuela Moschella and Nicola M Diodati
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Manuela Moschella: Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, Scuola Normale Superiore, Florence, Italy
Nicola M Diodati: Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, Scuola Normale Superiore, Florence, Italy

European Union Politics, 2020, vol. 21, issue 2, 183-203

Abstract: This study investigates whether and to what extent political factors drive disagreement within the allegedly consensual monetary committee of the European Central Bank. Absent voting data, the article assesses disagreement based on the semantic distance between the policy positions publicly articulated by the European Central Bank President and the central banks of Eurozone member states. The empirical analysis shows that the disagreement articulated by national central bankers is affected by the ideological inclinations of the governments of the countries they represent. Our findings thus suggest that central bankers’ position-taking is shaped not only by economic conditions but also by domestic political considerations. This result challenges the European Central Bank’s projected image of itself as an institution whose members are impermeable to domestic political pressures as a way to defend the independence of the institution to which they belong.

Keywords: Central banking; committee decision-making; conflict; European Central Bank; text analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:eeupol:v:21:y:2020:i:2:p:183-203

DOI: 10.1177/1465116519890412

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