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New evidence on the determinants of current accounts in the EU

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  • Agnieszka Gehringer

Abstract

Growing external imbalances in Europe have been recognized as an important aggravating element in searching for solutions out of the current crisis. This paper takes a closer look at the determinants of current accounts in the European economies. The standard set of the determinants discussed in the past literature is extended by factors that seem to have played an important role in Europe over the last decades. Such factors relate particularly to the dynamics of consumption and connected to this credit concession to the private sector, as well as to the increasingly preponderant presence of low-productive and non-tradable construction activities in the economic structure. Additionally, the growth of per capita output played a significant role in explaining current account positions. This evidence speaks in favour of the catching up still going on within Europe. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015

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  • Agnieszka Gehringer, 2015. "New evidence on the determinants of current accounts in the EU," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 42(4), pages 769-793, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:empiri:v:42:y:2015:i:4:p:769-793
    DOI: 10.1007/s10663-014-9276-9
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    2. Roman Stöllinger, 2017. "Tradability of Output and the Current Account: An Empirical Investigation for Europe," wiiw Working Papers 134, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    3. António Afonso & José Carlos Coelho, 2023. "Twin deficits through the looking glass: time-varying analysis in the Euro area," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 56(4), pages 2087-2110, August.
    4. Carlos Alberto Carrasco, 2016. "Causality between external balance and (some) fiscal variables: Preliminary results for the Eurozone," Economics and Business Letters, Oviedo University Press, vol. 5(3), pages 80-86.
    5. Carlos A. CARRASCO & Edgar D. TOVAR-GARCIA, 2020. "Export Composition and the Eurozone Trade Balance in Manufacturing Goods," Journal for Economic Forecasting, Institute for Economic Forecasting, vol. 0(1), pages 134-150, March.
    6. Mario Holzner & Marina Tkalec & Goran Vukšić, 2019. "Composition of trade flows and the effectiveness of fiscal devaluation," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(2), pages 453-477, February.
    7. Roman Stöllinger, 2020. "Tradability of output and the current account in Europe," International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 167-218, February.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Current account imbalances; European integration; Consumption dynamics; Private credit; Non-tradables; Construction; F32; F34; F36;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F32 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - Current Account Adjustment; Short-term Capital Movements
    • F34 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - International Lending and Debt Problems
    • F36 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - Financial Aspects of Economic Integration

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