Business Cycles Synchronisation between EU-15 and Selected Eastern European Countries – The Wavelet Coherence Approach

This paper strives to investigate the level of business cycles synchronisation between 8 Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) and the EU-15. We use wavelet coherence and phase difference methodology as a very suitable tool that observes simultaneously the strength of business cycles’ co-movement in the aspect of time as well as in the aspect of frequency. The results indicate that the business cycles of CEECs are generally synchronised with the EU-15 business cycles, whereas distinct differences existed before, during, and after the financial crisis (2008–2009) and during the European sovereign debt crisis (2010–2011). In other words, we demonstrate that very strong business cycles synchronisation occurred in almost all CEECs during crisis periods and at higher wavelet scales, while only moderate synchronisation is recorded in relatively tranquil periods at higher frequencies. The results suggest that smaller CEECs, but also larger countries such as the Czech Republic, Hungary, and to some extent Slovakia as well have a higher level of business cycles synchronisation with the EU-15, particularly in the crisis period at short-run as well as at long-run fluctuations. However, we do not find strong business cycles co-movement in cases of Poland and Latvia via HP and BP filters at higher frequencies during the crisis, which might indicate a higher resistance of these countries to external systemic shocks.