Talking in a Language That Everyone Can Understand? Clarity of Speeches by the ECB Executive Board

Glas A, Müller L (2023)

Publication Language: English

Publication Type: Other publication type

Publication year: 2023

URI: https://www.zew.de/en/publications/talking-in-a-language-that-everyone-can-understand-clarity-of-speeches-by-the-ecb-executive-board-2

Abstract

We use data on speeches held by members of the European Central Bank's (ECB)
Executive Board to analyze whether clarity of central bank communication has
increased over time. Employing readability measures as proxy variables, we find
that clarity of information provision is trending upward since the inception of the
ECB. The increase is gradual, rather than being induced by changes in the board
composition or major macroeconomic events. Clarity is higher for speeches aimed
at general audiences and for speeches by female speakers. We also show that media
sentiment about the ECB is negatively related to complexity.

Authors with CRIS profile

Alexander Glas Lehrstuhl für Statistik und Ökonometrie Lena Bjerkander Lehrstuhl für Statistik und Ökonometrie

How to cite

APA:

Glas, A., & Müller, L. (2023). Talking in a Language That Everyone Can Understand? Clarity of Speeches by the ECB Executive Board.

MLA:

Glas, Alexander, and Lena Müller. Talking in a Language That Everyone Can Understand? Clarity of Speeches by the ECB Executive Board. 2023.

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