CENTRAL BANKS‘ INDEPENDENCE: INSTITUTIONAL DETERMINANTS, RANKINGS and CENTRAL BANKERS’ VIEWS

Abstract

Over the last few years, it has been shown that the institutional constraints on central banks' behavior matter a lot. This paper supplements the existing literature by supplying a detailed listing and an appropriate grouping of the many constraints that have been considered so far; a ranking of all central banks of OECD countries according to their degrees of independence of governments; and the results of an inquiry into the relevance that central bankers themselves attach to such matters. Copyright 1994 by Scottish Economic Society.