Central Bank Independence, Political Regimes, and the Sacrifice Ratio: A Replication Study of Caporale and Caporale (2008)

A recent article by Caporale and Caporale (2008, thisJournal) provides an important finding on the determinants of the sacrifice ratio: central bank independence is not a determining factor for the sacrifice ratio when political regimes and other factors are controlled for. Our replication study shows that their result is driven by errors in the data. With correct data, it can be found that central bank independence is positively and significantly correlated with the sacrifice ratio, even when the nature of the political regime is controlled for.