Score contribution per author:
α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count
An important and open question in monetary economics is how the Federal Reserve makes its policy decisions. We document that when an FOMC member was born, his/her educational background and the Committee’s changing hawk-dove composition have predictable effects on FOMC decisions. The odds of an FOMC member being a hawk are higher when he/she graduated from a university linked to the Chicago school of economics; instead, a dove likely graduated from a university with strong Keynesian beliefs and was born during a period of high unemployment. These findings have implications for the choice of and confirmation of FOMC members.