Euro Area Imbalances

33 Pages Posted: 9 Feb 2017

See all articles by Mark Mink

Mark Mink

De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB)

Jan P. A. M. Jacobs

University of Groningen - Faculty of Economics and Business

Jakob de Haan

CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute); University of Groningen - Faculty of Economics and Business

Date Written: December 2016

Abstract

We argue that if currency union member states have different potential output per capita, output growth rates, or trade balances, the common monetary policy may not be optimal for all of them. Euro area imbalances for potential output and for trade balances are quite large, while output growth imbalances are more modest. Member states with larger imbalances of one type also have larger imbalances of both other types, but a decline of one imbalance need not coincide with a decline of the others. We also show that imbalances are fairly persistent, and are larger in poorer and smaller member states.

Keywords: euro area macroeconomic imbalances, common monetary policy, economic convergence, business cycle synchronization, euro crisis

JEL Classification: E300, F450, O470

Suggested Citation

Mink, Mark and Jacobs, Jan P.A.M. and de Haan, Jakob, Euro Area Imbalances (December 2016). CESifo Working Paper Series No. 6291, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2914258 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2914258

Mark Mink (Contact Author)

De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) ( email )

PO Box 98
1000 AB Amsterdam
Amsterdam, 1000 AB
Netherlands

HOME PAGE: http://www.dnb.nl/en/research/personal-pages/mark-mink/

Jan P.A.M. Jacobs

University of Groningen - Faculty of Economics and Business ( email )

Postbus 72
9700 AB Groningen
Netherlands

Jakob De Haan

CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

Poschinger Str. 5
Munich, DE-81679
Germany

HOME PAGE: http://www.CESifo.de

University of Groningen - Faculty of Economics and Business ( email )

PO Box 800
Groningen, 9700 AV
Netherlands
+31 0 50 3633706 (Fax)

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