Select your Committee: the Impact of Central Bankers Background on Inflation

This paper examines the influence of the biographical experience of monetary policy committee members on their inflation performance. Our sample covers major OECD countries in the 1999 to 2008 period. The results show that policy makers' backgrounds influence inflation. The professional background of monetary policy committees' members proves important, private sector members, academics and central banks' insiders being better in controlling inflation. Gender also reveals important, with women appearing more hawkish than male central bankers. Finally, the size of the monetary policy committees matters and non-linear effects are found.Central banking; committees; inflation; governance