IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/irapec/v22y2008i5p623-638.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The enlargement of the euro area: differences in relative inflation

Author

Listed:
  • Lukasz Rawdanowicz

Abstract

This paper investigates the structural determinants of relative inflation (i.e. the inflation of non-tradables vs tradables) in the context of overall inflation differentials in the EU. The analysis is based on the Bergstrand theoretical model. This framework incorporates three alternative hypotheses of relative inflation (Harrod-Balassa-Samuelson, relative factors endowment, and demand effects). Due to the lack of reliable data on capital stocks only a curtailed version of the model is tested here empirically. The various specifications of the model are estimated for the majority of EU countries, using the Pedroni panel group mean FMOLS estimator. In general, relative labour productivity and demand factors turn out to be significant and correctly signed, though evidence in favour of the latter effect seems to be less robust. In addition, differences in the determination of relative prices between the new and old EU Member States are found. They seem to be consistent with theoretical considerations and the transition phenomenon. The estimation results are very sensitive to the definition of non-tradables. The paper also discusses policy implications for overall inflation, stemming from relative price models. It questions the usefulness of relative inflation models for the analysis of overall inflation differentials and practical policy decisions.

Suggested Citation

  • Lukasz Rawdanowicz, 2008. "The enlargement of the euro area: differences in relative inflation," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(5), pages 623-638.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:irapec:v:22:y:2008:i:5:p:623-638
    DOI: 10.1080/02692170802287698
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02692170802287698
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/02692170802287698?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Asea, Patrick K & Mendoza, Enrique G, 1994. "The Balassa-Samuelson Model: A General-Equilibrium Appraisal," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 2(3), pages 244-267, October.
    2. Enrique Alberola-Ila & Tymo Tyrväinen, 1998. "Is there Scope for Inflation Differentials in EMU? An Empirical Evaluation of the Balassa-Samuelson Model in EMU Countries," Working Papers 9823, Banco de España.
    3. Patrick K. Asea, 1994. "The Balassa-Samuelson Model: A General Equilibrium Appraisal," UCLA Economics Working Papers 709, UCLA Department of Economics.
    4. Enrique Alberola-Ila & Tymo Tyrväinen, 1998. "Is there Scope for Inflation Differentials in EMU? An Empirical Evaluation of the Balassa-Samuelson Model in EMU Countries," Working Papers 9823, Banco de España.
    5. Michael Reutter & Hans-Werner Sinn, 2000. "The Minimum Inflation Rate for Euroland," CESifo Working Paper Series 377, CESifo.
    6. Jaroslava Hlouskova & Martin Wagner, 2006. "The Performance of Panel Unit Root and Stationarity Tests: Results from a Large Scale Simulation Study," Econometric Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(1), pages 85-116.
    7. Froot, Kenneth A. & Rogoff, Kenneth, 1995. "Perspectives on PPP and long-run real exchange rates," Handbook of International Economics, in: G. M. Grossman & K. Rogoff (ed.), Handbook of International Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 32, pages 1647-1688, Elsevier.
    8. Mr. Ronald MacDonald & Mr. Luca A Ricci, 2001. "PPP and the Balassa Samuelson Effect: The Role of the Distribution Sector," IMF Working Papers 2001/038, International Monetary Fund.
    9. Ronald MacDonald & Cezary Wójcik, 2004. "Catching up: The role of demand, supply and regulated price effects on the real exchange rates of four accession countries," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 12(1), pages 153-179, March.
    10. György Szapáry, 2000. "Maastricht and the Choice of Exchange Rate Regime in Transition Countries During The Run-Up to EMU," MNB Working Papers 2000/7, Magyar Nemzeti Bank (Central Bank of Hungary).
    11. repec:zbw:bofrdp:1998_015 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Mr. Jaewoo Lee & Man-Keung Tang, 2003. "Does Productivity Growth Lead to Appreciation of the Real Exchange Rate?," IMF Working Papers 2003/154, International Monetary Fund.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Balázs Égert & László Halpern & Ronald MacDonald, 2006. "Equilibrium Exchange Rates in Transition Economies: Taking Stock of the Issues," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(2), pages 257-324, April.
    2. repec:onb:oenbwp:y::i:106:b:1 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. García Solanes José, 2008. "Real Exchange Rate Appreciation in Central and Eastern European Countries. Why the Balassa-Samuelson Effect Does Not Explain the Whole Story," Working Papers 2010100, Fundacion BBVA / BBVA Foundation.
    4. Lenarčič, Črt & Masten, Igor, 2020. "Is there a Harrod-Balassa-Samuelson effect? New panel data evidence from 28 European countries," MPRA Paper 100647, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Jorge Carrera & Romain Restout, 2008. "Long Run Determinants of Real Exchange Rates in Latin America," Post-Print halshs-00276402, HAL.
    6. Coto-Martinez, J. & Reboredo, J. C., 2007. "The Relative Price of Non-traded Goods in an Imperfectly Competitive Economy: Empirical Evidence for G7 Countries," Working Papers 07/14, Department of Economics, City University London.
    7. Javier Coto-Martinez & Juan C. Reboredo, 2004. "The Balassa-Samuelson effect in an imperfectly competitive economy: empirical evidence for G7 countries," Money Macro and Finance (MMF) Research Group Conference 2003 19, Money Macro and Finance Research Group.
    8. Canzoneri, Matthew B. & Cumby, Robert E. & Diba, Behzad, 1999. "Relative labor productivity and the real exchange rate in the long run: evidence for a panel of OECD countries," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 245-266, April.
    9. Égert, Balázs, 2004. "Assessing equilibrium exchange rates in CEE acceding countries: can we have DEER with BEER without FEER? A critical survey of the literature," BOFIT Discussion Papers 1/2004, Bank of Finland Institute for Emerging Economies (BOFIT).
    10. Yan, Beiling, 2002. "Purchasing Power Parity: A Canada/U.S. Exploration," Economic Analysis (EA) Research Paper Series 2002002e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch.
    11. Obstfeld, Maurice & Taylor, Alan M., 1997. "Nonlinear Aspects of Goods-Market Arbitrage and Adjustment: Heckscher's Commodity Points Revisited," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 11(4), pages 441-479, December.
    12. repec:zbw:bofitp:2003_014 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Robert J. Sonora & Josip Tica, 2014. "Harrod, Balassa, and Samuelson (re)visit Eastern Europe," Cogent Economics & Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 2(1), pages 1-17, December.
    14. Jesús Crespo‐Cuaresma & Jarko Fidrmuc & Ronald MacDonald, 2005. "The monetary approach to exchange rates in the CEECs," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 13(2), pages 395-416, April.
    15. Christian Dreger & Konstantin Kholodilin & Kirsten Lommatzsch & JiÅí SlaÄálek & Przemyslaw Wozniak, 2008. "Price Convergence in an Enlarged Internal Market," Eastern European Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(5), pages 57-68, September.
    16. Lucio Sarno & Mark P. Taylor, 2002. "Purchasing Power Parity and the Real Exchange Rate," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 49(1), pages 1-5.
    17. Robert Dekle, 2013. "Real Exchange Rates in a Model of Structural Change: Applications to the Real Yen-Dollar and Chinese RMB-Dollar Exchange Rates," IMES Discussion Paper Series 13-E-02, Institute for Monetary and Economic Studies, Bank of Japan.
    18. Yu Sheng & Xinpeng Xu, 2009. "Real Exchange Rate, Productivity and Labor Market Rigidities," Working Papers 092009, Hong Kong Institute for Monetary Research.
    19. Charles Engel, 1999. "Accounting for U.S. Real Exchange Rate Changes," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 107(3), pages 507-538, June.
    20. repec:zbw:bofitp:2004_001 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Rod Tyers & Ying Zhang, 2014. "Real exchange rate determination and the China puzzle," Asian-Pacific Economic Literature, The Crawford School, The Australian National University, vol. 28(2), pages 1-32, November.
    22. Yan, Beiling, 2002. "Parité de pouvoir d'achat : le cas du Canada et des États-Unis," Série de documents de recherche sur l'analyse économique (AE) 2002002f, Statistics Canada, Direction des études analytiques.
    23. Todorov Ivan Krumov, 2014. "Macroeconomic Trends in the New Member Countries of the European Union Before the Euro Area Debt Crisis," Scientific Annals of Economics and Business, Sciendo, vol. 61(2), pages 197-217, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:irapec:v:22:y:2008:i:5:p:623-638. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/CIRA20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.