Expectations Anchoring in Inflation Targeting Regimes

Central banks adopt an inflation targeting policy with a goal to anchor inflation expectations. We argue that the expectations anchoring test developed in the context of the Krugman (1991) exchange rate targeting model is well-suited for inflation targeting applications. The test quantifies nonlinearity between realized and expected inflation for very high and very low inflation levels. It does not require comparison with the control group of non-targeting countries, avoiding critique of the benchmark approach. We test inflation targeting in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Sweden, the United Kingdom and find weak support for expectations anchoring.