Career experience, political effects, and voting behavior in the Riksbank's Monetary Policy Committee

- The determinants of voting behavior in the Swedish Riksbank are considered.
- Voting is analyzed with random effects ordered logit models for 1999-2013.
- Interplay of career experience and political factors shapes voting behavior.
- Government or Riksbank background leads to higher interest rate votes.
- Partisan voting behavior is detected for members with government background.

We find that career experience shapes the voting behavior of the Riksbank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) members. Members with a career in the Riksbank and the government prefer higher rates. During a legislation with a center-right (center-left) party administration, MPC members with a career background in the government favor higher (lower) interest rates.