Modeling Macroeconomic Shocks in the CFA Franc Zone

In this paper we modify the method of Blanchard and Quah (1989) in order to estimate a structural VAR model appropriate for a small open economy. In this way we identify shocks to output and prices in the members of the two monetary unions that make up the African CFA Franc Zone. The costs of monetary union membership will depend on the extent to which price and output shocks are correlated across countries, and the degree of similarity in the long run effects of the shocks on the macro-economy. The policy conclusions depend on the relative importance of different macroeconomic variables to policymakers, and the speed with which a policymaker is able to respond to a shock.Franc Zone; Optimal Currency Areas; Structural VAR Models

Is the Franc Zone an Optimal Currency Area?

In this paper we modify the method of Blanchard and Quah (1989) in order to estimate a structural VAR model appropriate for a small open economy. In this way we identify shocks to output and prices in the members of the two monetary unions that make up the African CFA Franc Zone. The costs of monetary union membership will depend on the extent to which price and output shocks are correlated across countries, and the degree of similarity in the long run effects of the shocks on the macro-economy. The policy conclusions depend on the relative importance of different macroeconomic variables to policymakers, and the speed with which a policymaker is able to respond to a shock.Franc Zone; Optimal Currency Areas; Structural VAR Models

Is the Franc Zone an Optimal Currency Area?

In this paper we modify the method of Blanchard and Quah (1989) in order to estimate a structural VAR model appropriate for a small open economy. In this way we identify shocks to output and prices in the members of the two monetary unions that make up the African CFA Franc Zone. The costs of monetary union membership will depend on the extent to which price and output shocks are correlated across countries, and the degree of similarity in the long run effects of the shocks on the macro-economy. The policy conclusions depend on the relative importance of different macroeconomic variables to policymakers, and the speed with which a policymaker is able to respond to a shock.Franc Zone, Optimal Currency Areas, Structural VAR Models

The Impact of Monetary Union on Macroeconomic Integration: Evidence from West Africa

monetary union, Africa, trade, business cycles

Do Currency Unions Deliver More Economic Integration than Fixed Exchange Rates? Evidence from the CFA and the ECCU

In this paper we develop a model to identify determinants of macroeconomic integration in the African CFA Franc Zone and in Dollar-pegging Caribbean countries (including members of the East Caribbean Currency Union). These two groups of countries each comprise states using several different local currencies: on the one hand the BCEAO-CFA Franc and the BEAC-CFA Franc (both pegged to the Euro), on the other the ECCU Dollar and other national Dollar-pegged currencies. The purpose of the analysis is to distinguish the effect of monetary union on macroeconomic integration from the effect of pegging to a common OECD currency.Currency Unions; International Integration

Dynamic Interaction Between Income and Health: Time-Series Evidence from Scandinavia

This paper complements existing cross-section and panel data analyses of the interaction of income and health outcomes by applying a cointegrating VAR model of income and health to time-series data for several Scandinavian countries. The results are consistent with previous crosssection and panel results, but also highlight the complexity and heterogeneity of the dynamic relationships that generate them. In particular, there are substantial differences across countries in the relative importance of different underlying causes of the health-income correlation.

A Nation Divided? Price and Output Dynamics in English Regions

In this paper we estimate a VECM model for inflation and output growth in different English regions, allowing for interactions between variables and between regions. The model permits the estimation not only of the degree of inter-regional correlation of price and output innovations, but also of the degree of heterogeneity in the dynamics of regional responses to these innovations. Although regional shocks are highly correlated, there is much more heterogeneity in regional responses to these shocks.VECMs; Regional Models; Persistence Profiles

Economic Integration in West Africa: Does the CFA Make a Difference?

In this paper we use data from 17 African nations in order to investigate the hypothesis that monetary union – represented in this case by the CFA Franc Zone – augments the extent of macroeconomic integration in developing countries. The paper covers a number of dimensions of integration including the volume of bilateral trade, real exchange rate volatility and the magnitude of cross-country business cycle correlation.Monetary Union; Africa; Trade; Business Cycles

Modelling Macroeconomic Linkages in a Monetary Union: A West African Example

West African Monetary Union, structural VAR

BIOECONOMIC MODELLING OF ENDANGERED SPECIES CONSERVATION

Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,