Heterogeneity Effect of Central Bank Independence on Inflation in Developing Countries

Abstract

This research investigates the relationship between central bank independence and inflation for 37 developing countries during the period from 1972 to 2019. Given that most developing countries experienced high inflation, many opted for central bank independence to enhance their focus on inflation. Central bank independence reforms were anticipated to create a higher level of independence, which would result in a low inflation rate. We employed pooled least square with the assumption of homogeneity of co-efficients; the result showed no significant relationship between central bank independence and inflation. We checked the homogeneity assumption of the panel by applying Chow and Roy–Zellner tests; results showed that the model was not homogeneous. Furthermore, we performed the panel heterogeneity model with the pooled mean group estimator which indicated that a reverse relationship exists between central bank independence and inflation. This finding is robust as we split the sample into two groups: moderate and high inflation countries; the negative relationship between those variables still exists.