National influences inside the ECB: an assessment from central bankers' statements

This paper aims at discovering the national influences inside the Governing Council of the ECB for setting interest rates. We use a textual analysis of national newspaper articles related to each European central banker to analyze their expressed preferences. We proceed to a cluster analysis with the results obtained and fi nd that there were favorable conditions for the emergence of coalitions of central bankers according to their common economic concerns. Next, a Taylor rule of each coalition is estimated as well as their desired interest rate. Finally, we assess the contribution of each coalition in setting the interest rate fixed by the ECB. Our results show that the identi fied coalitions have an influence inside the Governing Council for setting the interest rate, that is approximately equal to their respective economic weight in the euro area

Does one word fit all? The asymmetric effects of central banks' communication policy

This paper provides an extension of Morris and Shin's (2002) model (Morris, S., Shin, H. S. (2002). Social value of public information. The American Economic Review, 92(5), 1521-1534.). It considers an "interpretation bias" of the public signal sent by central banks such as the ECB or the FED. It is shown that such a bias is detrimental and should be considered when central banks implement their communication policy

Dissecting the brains of central bankers: the case of the ECB's Governing Council members on reforms

Since 2009, European central bankers have supported some reforms, in order to draw roadmaps to get out of the euro debt crisis. This paper tests whether the educational and professional background of European central bankers matter for the type of reforms each of them advocated. Through a textual analysis of public speeches delivered by the European central bankers, we draw a cognitive map for each of them and, thus, of the reforms they propose as ways out of the euro debt crisis. Our results show that their occupational background is an important determinant of their respective economic reform proposals

The art of central banks' forward guidance at the zero lower bound

This paper proposes to assess the usefulness of central banks forward guidance since the start of the global economic crisis. Using a novel approach, the Wordscores methodology, we reveal that since 2009, central banks do provide a temporal guidance of their accommodative policy that can be relied on and expected. Central banks communication thus gives important insights to financial markets about the persistence of their unconventional measures and in particular about the occurrence of an exit strategy

Does one word fit all? The asymmetric effects of central banks' communication policy

This paper provides an extension of Morris and Shin's (2002) model (Morris, S., Shin, H. S. (2002). Social value of public information. The American Economic Review, 92(5), 1521-1534.). It considers an "interpretation bias" of the public signal sent by central banks such as the ECB or the FED. It is shown that such a bias is detrimental and should be considered when central banks implement their communication policy

The art of central banks' forward guidance at the zero lower bound

This paper proposes to assess the usefulness of central banks forward guidance since the start of the global economic crisis. Using a novel approach, the Wordscores methodology, we reveal that since 2009, central banks do provide a temporal guidance of their accommodative policy that can be relied on and expected. Central banks communication thus gives important insights to financial markets about the persistence of their unconventional measures and in particular about the occurrence of an exit strategy

Factors influencing quality of life in Moroccan postmenopausal women with osteoporotic vertebral fracture assessed by ECOS 16 questionnaire

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Objective</p> <p>The aim of the study was to evaluate factors influencing quality of life (QOL) in Moroccan postmenopausal women with osteoporotic vertebral fracture assessed by the Arabic version of ECOS 16 questionnaire.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>357 postmenopausal women were included in this study. The participants underwent bone mineral density (BMD) measurements by DXA of the lumbar spine and the total hip as well as X-ray examination of the thoraco-lumbar spine to identify subclinical vertebral fractures. Patients were asked to complete a questionnaire on clinical and sociodemographic parameters, and osteoporosis risk factors. The Arabic version of the ECOS16 (Assessment of health related quality of life in osteoporosis questionnaire) was used to assess quality of life.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The mean age was 58 ± 7.8 years, and the mean BMI was 28.3 ± 4.8 kg/m². One hundred and eight women (30.1%) were osteoporotic and 46.7% had vertebral fractures. Most were categorized as Grade1 (75%). Three independent factors were associated with a poor quality of life: low educational level (p = 0,01), vertebral fracture (p = 0,03), and history of peripheral fracture (p = 0,006). Worse QOL was observed in the group with vertebral fracture in all domains except "pain": Physical functioning (p = 0,002); Fear of illness (p = 0,001); and Psychosocial functioning (p = 0,007). The number of fractures was a determinant of a low QOL, as indicated by an increased score in physical functioning (p = 0,01), fear of illness (p = 0,007), and total score (p = 0,01) after adjusting on age and educational level. Patients with higher Genant score had low QOL in these two domains too (p = 0,002; p = 0,001 respectively), and in the total score (p = 0,01) after adjusting on age and educational level.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our current data showed that the quality of life assessed by the Arabic version of the ECOS 16 questionnaire is decreased in post menopausal women with prevalent vertebral fractures, with the increasing number and the severity of vertebral fractures.</p

The effect of past use of oral contraceptive on bone mineral density, bone biochemical markers and muscle strength in healthy pre and post menopausal women

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>during adulthood, most studies have reported that oral contraceptive (OC) pills had neutral, or possibly beneficial effect on bone health. We proposed this study of pre and post menopausal women assessing BMD, bone biochemical markers and physical performance among OC past users and comparable women who have never use Ocs.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cross-sectional study comparing the bone density, bone biochemical markers (osteocalcin, CTX) and three measures to assess physical performance: timed get-up-and-go test "TGUG", five-times-sit-to-stand test "5 TSTS" and 8-feet speed walk "8 FSW" of users and never users OC. We were recruited 210 women who used OC for at least 2 years with that of 200 nonusers was carried out in pre and postmenopausal women (24-86 years).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>when analysing the whole population, BMD and biochemical markers values were similar for Ocs past users and control subjects. However when analysing the subgroup of premenopausal women, there was a statistically significant difference between users and never-users in osteocalcin (15,5 ± 7 ng/ml vs 21,6 ± 9 ng/ml; p = 0,003) and CTX (0,30 ± 0,1 ng/ml vs 0,41 ± 0,2 ng/ml; p = 0,025). This difference persisted after adjustment for age, BMI, age at menarche and number of pregnancies. In contrast, in post menopausal women, there was no difference in bone biochemical markers between OC users and the control. On the other hand OC past users had a significant greater performance than did the never users group. And when analysing the physical performance tests by quartile OC duration we found a significant negative association between the three tests and the use of OC more than 10 years.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>the funding show no evidence of a significant difference in BMD between Ocs users and never user control groups, a decrease in bone turn over in OC pre menopausal users and a greater physical performances in patients who used OC up than 10 years.</p