What Explains the Varying Monetary Response to Technology Shocks in G-7 Countries?

In a recent paper, Galí, López-Salido, and Vallées (2003) examined the Federal Reserve’s response to VAR-identified technology shocks. They found that during the Martin-Burns- Miller era, the Federal Reserve responded to technology shocks by overstabilizing output, while in the Volcker-Greenspan era, the Federal Reserve adopted an inflation-targeting rule. We extend their analysis to countries of the G-7; moreover, we consider the factors that may contribute to differing monetary responses across countries. Specifically, we find a relationship between the volatility of capital investment, the type of monetary policy rule, the responsiveness of the rule to output and inflation fluctuations, and the response to technology shocks.