The asymmetric effects of temperature shocks on inflation in the largest euro area countries

This paper assesses the impact of temperature shocks on sectoral inflation in the four largest euro area economies. We combine high-frequency weather data with monthly data on consumer prices, industrial production, producer prices and farm gate prices within a set of Bayesian Vector Autoregressions which explicitly considers the seasonal dependence of the shock. Results suggest the presence of significant country asymmetries and seasonal responses of inflation to temperature shocks, mainly via food, energy and service prices. An increase in monthly mean temperatures has inflationary effects in summer – with a stronger response in warmer euro area countries – and reduces inflation on average in the other seasons.