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The political economy under monetary union: has the euro made a difference?

Author

Listed:
  • Fratzscher, Marcel
  • Stracca, Livio

Abstract

Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) has transformed Europe and has created an integrated pan-European economy. Much research has focused on understanding this integration process and what benefits and costs it entails. This paper identifies a political economy channel of EMU as the monetary union implies that member states had to transfer or at least curtail their policy autonomy in several areas, such as monetary policy and fiscal policy. The paper shows that EMU has helped reduce the impact of political shocks on the domestic economy of member states but magnified the transmission of political shocks within the euro area. Equally importantly, economies with a weaker track record in terms of economic and institutional quality exhibited a significantly higher sensitivity to domestic political shocks before EMU, but not thereafter. While this may entail that EMU has brought benefits to countries with a weaker economic and institutional stability by insulating them from adverse political developments at home, a potential drawback is that it may provide weaker market discipline for domestic political stability. JEL Classification: F31, F33, G14

Suggested Citation

  • Fratzscher, Marcel & Stracca, Livio, 2008. "The political economy under monetary union: has the euro made a difference?," Working Paper Series 956, European Central Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:2008956
    Note: 335955
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    Cited by:

    1. Jürgen Jerger & Oke Röhe, 2014. "Testing for parameter stability in DSGE models. The cases of France, Germany, Italy, and Spain," International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer, vol. 11(3), pages 329-351, September.
    2. Giovanni Lombardo & Peter McAdam, 2010. "Incorporating financial frictions into new-generation macro models," Research Bulletin, European Central Bank, vol. 9, pages 13-16.
    3. Jürgen Jerger & Oke Röhe, 2009. "Testing for Parameter Stability in DSGE Models. The Cases of France, Germany and Spain," Working Papers 276, Leibniz Institut für Ost- und Südosteuropaforschung (Institute for East and Southeast European Studies), revised Mar 2011.
    4. Knobel, A. & Mironov, A., 2015. "Assessment of CIS Countries Readiness for Creation of Currency Union," Journal of the New Economic Association, New Economic Association, vol. 25(1), pages 76-101.
    5. Michael Ehrmann & Marcel Fratzscher & Refet S Güürkaynak & Eric T Swanson, 2011. "Convergence and Anchoring of Yield Curves in the Euro Area," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 93(1), pages 350-364, February.
    6. Fratzscher, Marcel & Stracca, Livio, 2009. "Does it pay to have the euro? Italy’s politics and financial markets under the lira and the euro," Working Paper Series 1064, European Central Bank.
    7. Apergis, Nicholas, 2015. "Newswire messages and sovereign credit ratings: Evidence from European countries under austerity reform programmes," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 54-62.
    8. Iulia Andreea Bucur, 2011. "EMU – “Optimum” or “Viable” Currency Area?," Studies and Scientific Researches. Economics Edition, "Vasile Alecsandri" University of Bacau, Faculty of Economic Sciences, issue 16-17.
    9. Marcel Fratzscher & Livio Stracca, 2009. "Does It Pay to Have the Euro? Italy's Troubled Politics and Financial Markets under the Lira and the Euro," International Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(1), pages 1-31, May.
    10. Mita Bhattacharya & John Inekwe, 2021. "Convergence in Sovereign Debt Defaults: Quantifying the Roles of Institutions," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 83(3), pages 792-811, June.
    11. Angela Maddaloni & José-Luis Peydró, 2010. "Bank lending standards and the origins and implications of the current banking crisis," Research Bulletin, European Central Bank, vol. 9, pages 6-9.
    12. João Rebelo Barbosa & Rui Henrique Alves, 2011. "Divergent competitiveness in the eurozone and the optimum currency area theory," FEP Working Papers 436, Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de Economia do Porto.
    13. Constantinos Alexiou & Joseph Nellis, 2012. "Is the EURO' a Defunct Currency?," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 2(3), pages 296-303.
    14. Fiorella De Fiore & Oreste Tristani, 2010. "Financial conditions and monetary policy," Research Bulletin, European Central Bank, vol. 9, pages 10-12.
    15. João Rebelo Barbosa & Rui Henrique Alves, 2011. "The Euro Area Ten Years after Its Creation: (Divergent) Competitiveness and the Optimum Currency Area Theory," Panoeconomicus, Savez ekonomista Vojvodine, Novi Sad, Serbia, vol. 58(5), pages 605-629, December.
    16. Peter, Manuel, 2015. "Konvergenz der europäischen Aktienmärkte: Eine Analyse der Entwicklungen und Herausforderungen für Investoren," Arbeitspapiere 150, University of Münster, Institute for Cooperatives.
    17. Lovleen Kushwah, 2020. "Country default in a monetary union," Working Papers 2020_19, Business School - Economics, University of Glasgow.
    18. Cornelia Holthausen & Huw Pill, 2010. "The forgotten markets: How understanding money markets helps us to understand the financial crisis," Research Bulletin, European Central Bank, vol. 9, pages 2-5.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    EMU; fiscal policy; monetary policy; political economy; political news; stock markets; transmission.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F31 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - Foreign Exchange
    • F33 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - International Monetary Arrangements and Institutions
    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading

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