How Do Central Banks React to Wealth Composition and Asset Prices?

Vitor Castro and Ricardo Sousa

No 2010-19, GEMF Working Papers from GEMF, Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra

Abstract: We assess the response of monetary policy to developments in asset markets in the Euro Area, the US and the UK. We estimate the reaction of monetary policy to wealth composition and asset prices using: (i) a linear framework based on a fully simultaneous system approach in a Bayesian environment; and (ii) a nonlinear specification that relies on a smooth transition regression model. The linear framework suggests that wealth composition is indeed important in the formulation of monetary policy. However, the attempts of central banks to mitigate undesirable fluctuations in say, financial wealth, may disrupt housing wealth. A similar result can be found when we assess the reaction of monetary authority to asset prices, although concerns about "price" effects are smaller. The nonlinear model confirms these findings. However, the concerns over wealth and its components are stronger once inflation is under control, i.e. below a certain target. Some disruptions between financial and housing wealth effects are still present. They can also be found in the reaction to asset prices, despite being less intense.

Keywords: monetary policy rules; wealth composition; asset prices. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E37 E52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 47 pages
Date: 2010-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cba, nep-eec, nep-mac and nep-mon
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

Published in Economic Modelling, Volume 29, Issue 3, May 2012, Pages 641-653

Downloads: (external link)
https://repec.uc.pt/gmf/wpaper/wpgemf/gemf_2010-19.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: How do central banks react to wealth composition and asset prices? (2012)
Working Paper: How Do Central Banks React to Wealth Composition and Asset Prices? (2010)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gmf:wpaper:2010-19

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in GEMF Working Papers from GEMF, Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sofia Antunes ().