What Explains the Varying Monetary Response to Technology Shocks in G-7 Countries?
In a recent paper, Galí, López-Salido, and Vallés (2003) examined the Federal Reserve's response to VAR-identified technology shocks. They found that during the Martin-Burns-Miller era, the Fed responded to technology shocks by overstabilizing output, while in the Volcker-Greenspan era, the Fed adopted an inflation-targeting rule. We extend their analysis to countries of the G-7; moreover, we consider the factors that may contribute to differing monetary responses across countries. Specifically, we find a relationship between the volatility of capital investment, type of monetary policy rule, the responsiveness of the rule to output and inflation fluctuations, and the response to technology shocks.
