Central bank communication and public trust: The case of ECB speeches

In Do Hwang, Thomas Lustenberger and Enzo Rossi

Journal of International Money and Finance, 2023, vol. 137, issue C

Abstract: Does communication influence trust in the central bank? We examine this question using survey data covering 488,000 Eurozone citizens from 1999 to 2019. We find compelling evidence that more communication, as measured by the number of speeches made by Eurosystem representatives, negatively impacts citizens’ trust in the ECB. This holds for speeches as a whole and for different groups of speakers. This effect was exacerbated during the global financial and European sovereign debt crises. We do detect a positive result from more speeches in the form of increased informedness on the ECB and the EU. However, the overall negative effect prevails.

Keywords: Trust in central banks; Central bank communication; Panel data; Eurobarometer survey (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D80 D83 E52 E58 E71 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jimfin:v:137:y:2023:i:c:s0261560623001171

DOI: 10.1016/j.jimonfin.2023.102916

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