IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jqecon/v17y2019i3d10.1007_s40953-018-0135-6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The West African Economic and Monetary Union: Optimality Revisited

Author

Listed:
  • Marcelin W. Diagne

    (Fordham University)

Abstract

The debate has been reignited in recent months by both defenders and opponents of the CFA franc, about its benefits or the lack thereof. The objective of this paper is to join the conversation in an objective, and quantifiable way, by investigating the optimality of the currency area. A trivariate SVAR comprising world output, domestic output for each one of the eight countries that make up the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), and changes in their price levels, represented by their respective CPIs was estimated. Annual data ranging from 1980 to 2017 was obtained from the IMF 2017 World Outlook. I also investigated endogeneity within the Union, by dividing the data into two samples, one from 1980 to 1993, a period that predates the WAEMU, and one from 1994 to 2017. The results show more synchronization of business cycles during the second period than during the first. I examined the role of trade in the near perfect synchronization of business cycles in the WAEMU, and found it to be the driving force behind the symmetry.

Suggested Citation

  • Marcelin W. Diagne, 2019. "The West African Economic and Monetary Union: Optimality Revisited," Journal of Quantitative Economics, Springer;The Indian Econometric Society (TIES), vol. 17(3), pages 541-549, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jqecon:v:17:y:2019:i:3:d:10.1007_s40953-018-0135-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s40953-018-0135-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s40953-018-0135-6
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s40953-018-0135-6?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. Blanchard, Olivier Jean & Quah, Danny, 1989. "The Dynamic Effects of Aggregate Demand and Supply Disturbances," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(4), pages 655-673, September.
    2. Devarajan, Shantayanan & Rodrik, Dani, 1991. "Do the benefits of fixed exchange rates outweigh their costs? The Franc Zone in Africa," Policy Research Working Paper Series 777, The World Bank.
    3. Rose, Andrew K & Engel, Charles, 2002. "Currency Unions and International Integration," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 34(4), pages 1067-1089, November.
    4. Gert Peersman, 2011. "The Relative Importance of Symmetric and Asymmetric Shocks: The Case of United Kingdom and Euro Area," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 73(1), pages 104-118, February.
    5. Devarajan, Shantayanan & Rodrik, Dani, 1991. "Do the Benefits of Exchange Rates Outweigh Their Cost? The Franc Zone in Africa," CEPR Discussion Papers 561, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    6. Horváth, Július & Grabowski, Richard, 1997. "Prospects of African Integration in Light of the Theory of Optimum Currency Areas," Journal of Economic Integration, Center for Economic Integration, Sejong University, vol. 12, pages 1-25.
    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. Fielding, David & Shields, Kalvinder, 2001. "Modelling macroeconomic shocks in the CFA Franc Zone," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 199-223, October.
    2. Couharde, Cécile & Coulibaly, Issiaka & Guerreiro, David & Mignon, Valérie, 2013. "Revisiting the theory of optimum currency areas: Is the CFA franc zone sustainable?," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 38(PB), pages 428-441.
    3. Ricci, Luca Antonio, 2008. "A Model of an Optimum Currency Area," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 2, pages 1-31.
    4. Tomell, Aaron & Velasco, Andrés, 1994. "Fiscal Discipline and the Choice of Exchange Rate Regime," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 1144, Inter-American Development Bank.
    5. Luís Aguiar-Conraria & Teresa Maria Rodrigues & Maria Joana Soares, 2014. "Oil Shocks and the Euro as an Optimum Currency Area," Dynamic Modeling and Econometrics in Economics and Finance, in: Marco Gallegati & Willi Semmler (ed.), Wavelet Applications in Economics and Finance, edition 127, pages 143-156, Springer.
    6. Jean-Pierre Allegret & Alain Sand-Zantman, 2009. "Modeling the Impact of Real and Financial Shocks on Mercosur: The Role of the Exchange Rate Regime," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 20(3), pages 359-384, July.
    7. Adom, Assandé Désiré & Sharma, Subhash C. & Morshed, A.K.M. Mahbub, 2010. "Economic integration in Africa," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(3), pages 245-253, August.
    8. Mahvash S Qureshi & Mr. Charalambos G Tsangarides, 2006. "What is Fuzzy About Clustering in West Africa?," IMF Working Papers 2006/090, International Monetary Fund.
    9. Nephil Matangi Maskay, 2001. "South Asian Monetary Integration in Light of the Optimum Currency Area Criterion of Patterns of Shocksâ€," South Asia Economic Journal, Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, vol. 2(2), pages 203-219, September.
    10. Xavier Debrun & Paul R. Masson & Catherine Pattillo, 2019. "Should African Monetary Unions Be Expanded? An Empirical Investigation of the Scope for Monetary Integration in Sub-Saharan Africa," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Macroeconomic Modelling and Monetary and Exchange Rate Regimes, chapter 6, pages 195-242, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    11. Rama,Martin G., 1998. "Wage misalignment in CFA countries: are labor market policies to blame?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1873, The World Bank.
    12. Deskar-Škrbić, Milan & Kotarac, Karlo & Kunovac, Davor, 2020. "The third round of euro area enlargement: Are the candidates ready?," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    13. Athina Zervoyianni & Athanasios Anastasiou, 2009. "Convergence of shocks and trade in the enlarged European Union," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(1), pages 79-114.
    14. Mohd Hussain Kunroo, 2019. "Trade, Industrial Dissimilarity, FDI and Business Cycle Co-movements: EC3SLS Evidence from Eurozone Economies," Margin: The Journal of Applied Economic Research, National Council of Applied Economic Research, vol. 13(3), pages 327-359, August.
    15. Kunovac, Davor & Palenzuela, Diego Rodriguez & Sun, Yiqiao, 2022. "A new optimum currency area index for the euro area," Working Paper Series 2730, European Central Bank.
    16. Horvath, Julius & Ratfai, Attila, 2004. "Supply and demand shocks in accession countries to the Economic and Monetary Union," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 202-211, June.
    17. Zhao, Xiaodan & Kim, Yoonbai, 2009. "Is the CFA Franc Zone an Optimum Currency Area?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(12), pages 1877-1886, December.
    18. Tornell, Aaron & Velasco, Andres, 2000. "Fixed versus flexible exchange rates: Which provides more fiscal discipline?," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 399-436, April.
    19. Skorepa, Michal & Komarek, Lubos, 2015. "Sources of asymmetric shocks: The exchange rate or other culprits?," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 39(4), pages 654-674.
    20. Kwanho Shin & Yunjong Wang, 2003. "Monetary Integration Ahead of Trade Integration in East Asia?," ISER Discussion Paper 0572, Institute of Social and Economic Research, Osaka University.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Optimal currency area; WAEMU; UEMOA; Franc CFA;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E6 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook
    • E3 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles
    • F4 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:spr:jqecon:v:17:y:2019:i:3:d:10.1007_s40953-018-0135-6. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.