European Equity Markets and EMU: Are the Differences Between Countries Slowly Disappearing?

Abstract:     
During the 1980s country effects have been larger than industry effects in the equity markets of Western Europe. This has continued to be the case for the EMU countries in the 1993-1998 period, despite the convergence of interest rates and the harmonization of fiscal and monetary policies following the Maastricht Treaty of 1992. As of now, there is no evidence that the differences between countries have disappeared.

JEL Classifications: G11, G12, G15

Working Paper Series