Finance and Economics Discussion Series (FEDS)
February 2024 (Revised November 2024)
Monetary Policy Shocks: Data or Methods?
Connor M. Brennan, Margaret M. Jacobson, Christian Matthes, Todd B. Walker
Abstract:
Different series of high-frequency monetary shocks can have a correlation coefficient as low as 0.3 and the same sign in only one half of observations. Both data and methods drive these differences, which are starkest when the federal funds rate is at its effective lower bound. After documenting differences in monetary shock series, we explore their consequence for inference in several specifications. We find that empirical estimates of monetary policy transmission have few qualitative differences. We caution that inference may not be entirely robust to all shock constructions because qualitative differences can emerge when we interchange data and methods.
Keywords: High-frequency monetary policy shocks, Monetary policy transmission, Empirical monetary economics.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17016/FEDS.2024.011r1
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