02023cas a2200265 a 4500 AALejournalIMF003976 230101c9999 xx r poo 0 0eng d 5.00 USD 9781451863017 1018-5941 BD-DhAAL BD-DhAAL Ehrmann, Michael. Forecasting ECB Monetary Policy : Accuracy is (Still) a Matter of Geography / Michael Ehrmann, Marcel Fratzscher, Helge Berger. Washington, D.C. : International Monetary Fund, 2006. 1 online resource (42 pages) IMF Working Papers <strong>Off-Campus Access:</strong> No User ID or Password Required <strong>On-Campus Access:</strong> No User ID or Password Required Electronic access restricted to authorized BRAC University faculty, staff and students Monetary policy in the euro area is conducted within a multicountry, multicultural, and multilingual context involving multiple central banking traditions. How does this heterogeneity affect the ability of economic agents to understand and to anticipate monetary policy by the European Central Bank (ECB)? Using a database of surveys of professional ECB policy forecasters in 24 countries, we find remarkable differences in forecast accuracy, and show that they are partly related to geography and clustering around informational hubs, as well as to country-specific economic conditions and traditions of independent central banking in the past. In large part, this heterogeneity can be traced to differences in forecasting models. While some systematic differences between analysts have been transitional and are indicative of learning, others are more persistent. Mode of access: Internet Berger, Helge. Fratzscher, Marcel. IMF Working Papers; Working Paper ; No. 2006/041 Full text available on IMF http://elibrary.imf.org/view/journals/001/2006/041/001.2006.issue-041-en.xml IMF e-Library