Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/53809 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2007
Series/Report no.: 
Bank of Canada Working Paper No. 2007-6
Publisher: 
Bank of Canada, Ottawa
Abstract: 
More than 80 central banks use a committee to take monetary policy decisions. The composition of the committee and the structure of the meeting can affect the quality of the decision making. In this paper we review economic, experimental, sociological and psychological studies to identify criteria for the optimal institutional setting of a monetary committee. These include the optimal size of the committee, measures to encourage independent thinking, a relatively informal structure of the meeting, and abilities to identify and evaluate individual members' performances. Using these criteria, we evaluate the composition and operation of monetary policy committees in various central banks. Our findings indicate that e.g. the monetary policy committee of the Bank of England follows committee best-practice, while the committee structure of other major central banks could be improved.
Subjects: 
Central bank research
Monetary policy framework
JEL: 
C92
D70
E58
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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