Policy credibility in the ERM: evidence from six countries using an ARCH approach

The issue of credibility and capital mobility in the EMS is re-examined using an alternative methodology, as well as a longer sample period than previous studies. In particular, the dynamic relationship between interest rate differentials and the exchange rate risk premium is emphasized. The relationship between the premium and credibility is then used in order to identify patterns of credibility in ERM countries. Credibility in the case of Italy has declined post-1985, as indicated by the rising exchange rate risk premium. For Denmark, France and Ireland, credibility seems to be increasing up to the currency crisis period and for Belgium and Holland credibility increased early in the period and remained high during the rest of the period.

Policy Effectiveness in the Post-ERM Era: Evidence from Six Countries

The objective of this paper is to determine whether ERM-participating countries have experienced a change in the effectiveness of monetary and fiscal policies since the establishment of the ERM. Countries which have come to rely more heavily on fiscal policy instruments as the means of output, price and exchange rate stabilization since the establishment of the ERM (and currently exceed the fiscal criteria) are expected to find the Maastricht fiscal criteria restrictive and perhaps destabilizing. We find that Belgium, Italy and Ireland are the countries that are likely to face the most difficulties. Copyright Kluwer Academic Publishers 1997EMS, fiscal policy, VAR,