Talking in a language that everyone can understand? Clarity of speeches by the ECB Executive Board

Alexander Glas and Lena Müller

No 23-073, ZEW Discussion Papers from ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research

Abstract: We use data on speeches held by members of the European Central Bank's (ECB) Executive Board to analyze whether clarity of central bank communication has increased over time. Employing readability measures as proxy variables, we find that clarity of information provision is trending upward since the inception of the ECB. The increase is gradual, rather than being induced by changes in the board composition or major macroeconomic events. Clarity is higher for speeches aimed at general audiences and for speeches by female speakers. We also show that media sentiment about the ECB is negatively related to complexity.

Keywords: Central Bank Communication; Monetary Policy Transparency; Clarity; Readability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E52 E58 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-big, nep-cba, nep-eec and nep-mon
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Journal Article: Talking in a language that everyone can understand? Clarity of speeches by the ECB Executive Board (2024)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:zewdip:283611

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