Have the Sacrifice Ratios Changed under Inflation Targeting? An Empirical Investigation

Amarasekara, Chandranath (2008): Have the Sacrifice Ratios Changed under Inflation Targeting? An Empirical Investigation. Published in: Central Banking and Financial Markets , Vol. 1, (2008): pp. 73-110.

Abstract

Disinflation is a painful exercise: it reduces output and increases unemployment at least in the short run. This paper analyses the effects of adopting inflation targeting as a monetary policy framework in order to reduce inflation and maintain it at a low level, on this output or employment sacrifice. Using OECD data for several countries and several empirical methodologies, sacrifice ratios are measured. Several important results emerge: first, adopting of inflation targeting has not been an overnight shift but a gradual process; second, in industrial countries, inflation targeting has resulted in lower inflation as well as lower unemployment; however, the experience of some Eurozone economies as well as emerging market inflation targeters show that maintaining low and stable inflation could lead to adverse unemployment outcomes.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Sacrifice Ratio, Inflation Targeting, Monetary Policy, Unemployment, Inflation
• Subjects: E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics > E5 - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit > E52 - Monetary Policy; E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics > E5 - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit > E58 - Central Banks and Their Policies; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J6 - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers > J64 - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search

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