Characterising the Business Cycle for Accession Countries

IGIER Working Paper No. 261

46 Pages Posted: 18 May 2004

See all articles by Michael J. Artis

Michael J. Artis

The University of Manchester - Institute for Political & Economic Governance (IPEG)

Massimiliano Giuseppe Marcellino

Bocconi University - Department of Economics; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Tommaso Proietti

University of Rome II - Department of Economics and Finance

Date Written: May 2004

Abstract

We analyse the evolution of the business cycle in the accession countries, after a careful examination of the seasonal properties of the available series and the required modification of the cycle dating procedures. We then focus on the degree of cyclical concordance within the group of accession countries, which turns out to be in general lower than that between the existing EU countries (the Baltic countries constitute an exception). With respect to the Eurozone, the indications of synchronization are also generally low and lower relative to the position obtaining for countries taking part in previous enlargements (with the exceptions of Poland, Slovenia and Hungary). In the light of the optimal currency area literature, these results cast doubts on the usefulness of adopting the euro in the near future for most accession countries, though other criteria such as the extent of trade and the gains in credibility may point in a different direction.

Keywords: Business cycles, dating algorithms, cycle synchronization, EU enlargement, seasonal adjustment

JEL Classification: C19, C40, E32, E39

Suggested Citation

Artis, Michael J. and Marcellino, Massimiliano and Proietti, Tommaso, Characterising the Business Cycle for Accession Countries (May 2004). IGIER Working Paper No. 261, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=547102 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.547102

Michael J. Artis

The University of Manchester - Institute for Political & Economic Governance (IPEG) ( email )

Oxford Road
Manchester, M13 9PL
United Kingdom

Massimiliano Marcellino (Contact Author)

Bocconi University - Department of Economics ( email )

Via Gobbi 5
Milan, 20136
Italy

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) ( email )

London
United Kingdom

Tommaso Proietti

University of Rome II - Department of Economics and Finance ( email )

Via Columbia, 2
Rome, 00133
Italy

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