Central banks average 11 working

papers over the past year

Just over a quarter of central banks run research blogs

Central Banking staff

30 Nov 2023

Central banks published an average of nearly 11 working papers over the

past one year, the Economics Benchmarks 2023 finds.

The data from 32 central banks shows on average institutions published

10.6 working papers. A high income central bank from the Americas
reports the highest number of 60 papers. Meanwhile, four respondents
say they published none.

Respondents also provide information on the number of their researchers’

papers published in peer-reviewed journals. The data averages 7.8 and
ranges from 60 in the same high income institution from the Americas to
zero at eight central banks.

A few participants say they also run research blogs – 33 central banks
addressed this section, but a clear majority of 24 (72.7%) institutions do
not operate blogs.
Click to explore interactive charts

BEHIND THE DATA: Central banks have different levels of commitment to

paper publication. This cuts across central banks’ wealth levels.

High income institutions have the highest production propensity of 16.8

working papers on average. High income economy researchers’ papers are
also published in peer-reviewed journals at the highest average of 13.3.
Lower-middle income central banks publish the lowest number of
working papers (0.7). Just 0.3 research works are issued in peer-reviewed
journals on average.
The only low income participating central bank comes from Africa. The
institution says it produced a total of eight working papers in the past 12
months. Economists’ research works published in peer-reviewed journals
came to eight. Further information provided by the respondent shows that
the institution publishes a research journal but lacks a research blog.

THE BIGGER PICTURE : A few central banks without research blogs either
leverage their websites to share research works or periodically publish
their own journals.

A high income respondent from Europe, for example, says it has “a

dedicated section on the website, hosting working papers and other
research”. Additionally, “non-technical summaries of selected research
works” are periodically published in the media, the institution says.

Central banks often complement research works with blog content. Reimo
Juks, an adviser at the Sveriges Riksbank, lists some benefits of open
blogging for central banks in a LinkedIn post. Juks suggests that formal
policy decisions often contain personal judgments of decision-makers.
Juks argues that staff’s views, reflected in central banks’ blogposts, are
capable of enriching policy debates. They also disclose the “complexity
behind any policy decisions”.

The Czech National Bank (CNB) publishes articles written by board

members on its blog. The articles often contain comments on economic
indicators, the financial system, “and selected CNB economic research
papers”, the CNB says.

The Central Banking Institute’s Economics Benchmarks 2023 data was

gathered between September and October 2023 from 33 central banks
(versus 33 in 2022) and is published in anonymised form. 18 of the
respondents also provided data for the 2022 benchmark.

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HOW TO PARTICIPATE : If you want to contribute your own data to the
benchmarking service – helping us expand the dataset – please email:
benchmarks@centralbanking.com

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