The Portuguese Slump and Crash and the Euro Crisis

54 Pages Posted: 13 Aug 2013

See all articles by Ricardo Reis

Ricardo Reis

London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE); National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

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Date Written: August 2013

Abstract

Between 2000 and 2012, the Portuguese economy grew less than the United States during the Great Depression and less than Japan during its lost decade. This paper asks why this happened, with a particular focus on the slump between 2000 and 2007. It describes the main facts of Portugal's recent economic history, evaluates some possible explanations for its dismal performance, and proposes a new hypothesis based on the misallocation of abundant capital flows from abroad. I put forward a model of credit frictions to show that if financial integration exceeds financial deepening, productivity will fall, generating a slump as relatively unproductive firms in the nontradables sector expand at the expense of more productive tradables firms. This explanation can also potentially account for the similarities and the differences between Portugal on the one hand, and Ireland and Spain on the other, during this period, and for some features of the crash in Portugal after 2010.

Keywords: Eurozone, Financial imperfections, Sudden stop

JEL Classification: E32, E65, F32, F43, N14, O52

Suggested Citation

Reis, Ricardo A.M.R., The Portuguese Slump and Crash and the Euro Crisis (August 2013). CEPR Discussion Paper No. DP9591, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2309235

Ricardo A.M.R. Reis (Contact Author)

London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE) ( email )

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London, WC2A 2AE
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National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

London
United Kingdom

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