Simple rules versus optimal policy: what fits?
- Author:
- by Ida Wolden Bache, Leif Brubakk and Junior Maih
- Series:
- Working Paper
- Number:
- 3/2010
Abstract
We estimate a small open-economy DSGE model for Norway with two specifications of monetary policy: a simple instrument rule and optimal policy based on an intertemporal loss function. The empirical fit of the model with optimal policy is as good as the model with a simple rule. This result is robust to allowing for misspecification following the DSGE-VAR approach proposed by Del Negro and Schorfheide (2004). The interest rate forecasts from the DSGE-VARs are close to Norges Bank's official forecasts since 2005. One interpretation is that the DSGE-VAR approximates the judgment imposed by the policymakers in the forecasting process.
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ISSN 1502-8143 (online)