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Monetary union in West Africa: who might gain, who might lose, and why?

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Author Info
Xavier Debrun
Paul Masson
Catherine Pattillo

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Abstract

We develop a model in which governments' financing needs exceed the socially optimal level because public resources are diverted to serve the narrow interests of the group in power. From a social welfare perspective, this results in undue pressure on the central bank to extract seigniorage. Monetary policy also suffers from an expansive bias, owing to the authorities' inability to precommit to price stability. Such a conjecture about the fiscal-monetary policy mix appears quite relevant in Africa, with deep implications for the incentives of fiscally heterogeneous countries to form a currency union. We calibrate the model to data for West Africa and use it to assess proposed ECOWAS monetary unions. Fiscal heterogeneity indeed appears critical in shaping regional currency blocs that would be mutually beneficial for all their members. In particular, Nigeria's membership in the configurations currently envisaged would not be in the interests of other ECOWAS countries unless it were accompanied by effective containment on Nigeria's financing needs.

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Publisher Info
Article provided by Canadian Economics Association in its journal Canadian Journal of Economics.

Volume (Year): 38 (2005)
Issue (Month): 2 (May)
Pages: 454-481
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Handle: RePEc:cje:issued:v:38:y:2005:i:2:p:454-481

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
E58 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Central Banks and Their Policies
E61 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Policy Objectives; Policy Designs and Consistency; Policy Coordination
E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy
F33 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - International Monetary Arrangements and Institutions

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

  1. Uhlig, Harald, 2002. "One Money, but Many Fiscal Policies in Europe: What Are the Consequences?," CEPR Discussion Papers 3296, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  2. Alberto Alesina & Ignazio Angeloni & Federico Etro, 2001. "The Political Economy of International Unions," Harvard Institute of Economic Research Working Papers 1939, Harvard - Institute of Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Rogoff, Kenneth, 1985. "The Optimal Degree of Commitment to an Intermediate Monetary Target," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 100(4), pages 1169-89, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Barro, Robert J & Gordon, David B, 1983. "A Positive Theory of Monetary Policy in a Natural Rate Model," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 91(4), pages 589-610, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  5. Paul Cashin & Catherine A. Pattillo, 2000. "Terms of Trade Shocks in Africa - Are They Short-Lived or Long-Lived?," IMF Working Papers 00/72, International Monetary Fund.
    Other versions:
  6. Martin, Philippe, 1995. "Free-riding, convergence and two-speed monetary unification in Europe," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(7), pages 1345-1364, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Roel Beetsma & Xavier Debrun & Franc Klaassen, 2001. "Is Fiscal Policy Coordination in EMU Desirable?," HEI Working Papers 04-2001, Economics Section, The Graduate Institute of International Studies. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  8. Stasavage, David, 1997. "The CFA Franc Zone and Fiscal Discipline," Journal of African Economies, Oxford University Press, vol. 6(1), pages 132-67, March.
  9. Richard Clarida & Jordi Gali & Mark Gertler, 2002. "A Simple Framework for International Monetary Policy Analysis," NBER Working Papers 8870, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  10. Canzoneri, Matthew B & Gray, Jo Anna, 1985. "Monetary Policy Games and the Consequences of Non-cooperative Behavior," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 26(3), pages 547-64, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Muscatelli, Anton, 1998. "Optimal Inflation Contracts and Inflation Targets with Uncertain Central Bank Preferences: Accountability through Independence?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 108(447), pages 529-42, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Ousmane Dore & Paul R. Masson, 2002. "Experience with Budgetary Convergence in the WAEMU," IMF Working Papers 02/108, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
  13. Matthew B. Canzoneri & Dale W. Henderson, 1991. "Monetary Policy in Interdependent Economies: A Game-Theoretic Approach," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262031787.
  14. Beetsma, Roel M. W. J. & Lans Bovenberg, A., 1998. "Monetary union without fiscal coordination may discipline policymakers," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 239-258, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  15. Paul R. Masson & Catherine A. Pattillo, 2001. "Monetary Union in West Africa (ECOWAS)," IMF Occasional Papers 204, International Monetary Fund.
  16. Debrun, Xavier, 2001. "Bargaining over EMU vs. EMS: Why Might the ECB Be the Twin Sister of the Bundesbank?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 111(473), pages 566-90, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  17. Andersen, Torben M, 2002. "Fiscal Stabilization Policy in a Monetary Union with Inflation Targeting," CEPR Discussion Papers 3232, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  18. Keiko Honjo & Sanjeev Gupta & Marijn Verhoeven, 1997. "The Efficiency of Government Expenditure - Experiences from Africa," IMF Working Papers 97/153, International Monetary Fund.
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  21. Mauro, Paolo, 1998. "Corruption and the composition of government expenditure," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(2), pages 263-279, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  22. Prakash Loungani & Phillip Swagel, 2001. "Sources of Inflation in Developing Countries," IMF Working Papers 01/198, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Xavier Debrun & Manmohan S. Kumar, 2007. "The Discipline-Enhancing Role of Fiscal Institutions: Theory and Empirical Evidence," IMF Working Papers 07/171, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
  2. Balogun, Emmanuel Dele, 2009. "Alternative reconsideration of output growth differrential for the West African Monetary Zone," MPRA Paper 13416, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  3. George S. Tavlas, 2008. "The Benefits and Costs of Monetary Union in Southern Africa: A Critical Survey of the Literature," Working Papers 70, Bank of Greece. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Balogun, Emmanuel Dele, 2009. "Inflation differential in the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) area:Implications for unionization," MPRA Paper 13045, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  5. Charalambos G. Tsangarides & Pierre Ewenczyk & Michal Hulej, 2006. "Stylized Facts on Bilateral Trade and Currency Unions: Implications for Africa," IMF Working Papers 06/31, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
  6. Hefeker, Carsten, 2003. "Fiscal Reform and Monetary Union in West Africa," Discussion Paper Series 26257, Hamburg Institute of International Economics. [Downloadable!]
  7. Kohnert, Dirk, 2005. "Die UEMOA und die CFA-Zone: Eine neue Kooperations-Kultur im frankophonen Afrika?
    [The WEAMU and the Franc CFA-Zone: A new culture of co-operation within Francophone Africa?]
    ," MPRA Paper 5436, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  8. Bamba, Lambert N'galadjo, 2004. "Analyse du Processus de Convergence Dans la Zone UEMOA," Working Papers UNU-WIDER Research Paper , World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER). [Downloadable!]
  9. Julian Berengaut & Katrin Elborgh-Woytek, 2006. "Beauty Queens and Wallflowers--Currency Unions in the Middle East and Central Asia," IMF Working Papers 06/226, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
  10. Charalambos G. Tsangarides & Mahvash Saeed Qureshi, 2006. "What is Fuzzy About Clustering in West Africa?," IMF Working Papers 06/90, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
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