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

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

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

monetary union, Africa, trade, business cycles

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

Decision-Making in Hard Times: What is a Recession, Why Do We Care and When Do We Know We Are in One?

Defining a recessionary event as one which impacts adversely on individuals’ economic well-being, the paper argues that recession is a multi-faceted phenomenon whose meaning differs from person to person as it impacts on their decision-making in real time. It argues that recession is best represented through the calculation of the nowcast of recession event probabilities. A variety of such probabilities are produced using a real-time data set for the US for the period, focusing on the likelihood of various recessionary events through 1986q1-2008q4 and on prospects beyond the end of the sample.Recession, Probability Forecasts, Real Time.

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.

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

Measuring the Natural Output Gap using Actual and Expected Output Data

An output gap measure is suggested based on the Beveridge-Nelson decomposition of output using a vector-autoregressive model that includes data on actual output and on expected output obtained from surveys. The paper explains the advantages of using survey data in business cycle analysis and the gap is provided economic meaning by relating it to the natural level of output defined in Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium models. The measure is applied to quarterly US data over the period 1970q1-2007q4 and the resultant gap estimates are shown to have sensible statistical properties and perform well in explaining inflation in estimates of New Keynesian Phillips curves.Trend Output; Natural Output Level; Output Gap; Beveridge-Nelson Decomposition; Survey-based Expectations; New Keynesian Phillips Curve

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