ECB Transparency

Academic studies and the general perception in the media and financial markets differ regarding the transparency of the ECB. Academics have a more favorable view on ECB transparency than the media and financial markets. What could explain this difference? This study applies an innovative new approach on the measurement of central bank transparency to address this question. Content and thematic analysis are used to measure the transparency of central banks from the market participants point of view. This research approach is different from most academic studies that use either the futures market or disclosure (transparency) indexes.