Research Article

Formation of Inflation Expectations: An Analysis in terms of Behavioral Economics

Volume: 12 Number: 2 June 30, 2023
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Formation of Inflation Expectations: An Analysis in terms of Behavioral Economics

Abstract

Since inflation expectations are an important determinant of real inflation, they play an important role in the execution of monetary policy. Central banks control the inflation expectations of economic agents and try to make them compatible with the inflation target. Regarding inflation expectations, the basic paradigm in mainstream economics is the rational expectations hypothesis. According to this hypothesis, economic units use all available information to create their expectations and make optimal forecasts for inflation. While making inflation forecasts based on rational expectations, it is accepted that the information is homogeneously distributed and the psychological factors limiting this information are the same. However, studies in the field of behavioral economics have criticized the rational expectations hypothesis based on the importance of incomplete information and uncertainty surrounding inflation forecasts, and the fact that beliefs about inflation can change over time, thus heterogeneity. As a result of these criticisms, alternative behavioral approaches have been developed to explain the formation of inflation expectations. The most important of these approaches are the sticky information model, the rational inattention approach, the epidemiological expectations approach, and the Bayesian learning model. In this context, the main purpose of the study is to reveal, on the basis of theoretical and empirical literature, how inflation expectations occur in real life, unlike rational expectations, in the context of behavioral economics. In the study, it is concluded that inflation expectations are formed as a result of heterogeneity in individual behaviors, contrary to the rational expectations hypothesis, and that behavioral economics makes a significant contribution to central banks both in maintaining price stability and in pursuing an effective monetary policy by explaining the formation of inflation expectations with different psychological approaches. The study revealed the deficiencies in the models that explain inflation expectations according to the rational expectations approach and revealed the importance of behavioral approaches in eliminating this deficiency.

Keywords

Formation of Inflation Expectations , Inflation Expectations Uncertainty , Monetary Policy , Heterogenous Expectations , Behavioral Economics

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APA
Yıldırım, S., & Basılgan, M. (2023). Enflasyon Bekleyişlerinin Oluşumu: Davranışsal İktisat Açısından Bir Analiz. İnsan Ve Toplum Bilimleri Araştırmaları Dergisi, 12(2), 1095-1121. https://doi.org/10.15869/itobiad.1255246