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Have National Business Cycles Become More Synchronized?

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Author Info
Michael D. Bordo
Thomas Helbling

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Abstract

In this paper, we document evidence on the synchronization of business cycles across 16 countries over the past century and a quarter, demarcated into four exchange rate regimes. We find using three different methodologies that there is a secular trend towards increased synchronization for much of the twentieth century and that it occurs across diverse exchange rate regimes. This finding is in marked contrast to much of the recent literature, which has focused primarily on the evidence for the past 20 or 30 years and which has produced mixed results. We then considered a number of possible explanations for the observed pattern of increased synchronization. We first ascertained the role of shocks demarcated into country-specific (idiosyncratic) and global (common). Our key finding here is that global (common) shocks are the dominant influence across all regimes. The increasing importance of global shocks we posit reflects the forces of globalization, especially the integration of goods and services through international trade and the integration of financial markets. Our evidence shows a modest role for increasing bilateral trade in explaining synchronization, with stronger evidence for regional integration in Europe and North America but the evidence for the role of financial integration proxied by the removal of capital controls is inconclusive.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 10130.

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Date of creation: Dec 2003
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:10130

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
N10 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Growth and Fluctuations - - - General, International, or Comparative

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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. Buch, Claudia M. & Lipponer, Alexander, 2005. "Business cycles and FDI : evidence from German sectoral data," Discussion Paper Series 1: Economic Studies 2005,09, Deutsche Bundesbank, Research Centre. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. William Barnett & Mehmet Dalkir, 2005. "Gains from Synchronization," WORKING PAPERS SERIES IN THEORETICAL AND APPLIED ECONOMICS 200511, University of Kansas, Department of Economics, revised Apr 2005. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Ariel Burstein & Christopher Johann Kurz & Linda Tesar, 2004. "Trade, Production Sharing and the International Transmission of Business Cycles," Working Papers 522, Research Seminar in International Economics, University of Michigan. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Andrew Swiston & Tamim Bayoumi, 2008. "Spillovers Across NAFTA," IMF Working Papers 08/3, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
  5. Martial Dupaigne & Patrick Feve, 2009. "Technology shocks around the world," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 12(4), pages 592-607, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  6. Ormerod, Paul, 2008. "Random Matrix Theory and Macro-Economic Time-Series: An Illustration Using the Evolution of Business Cycle Synchronisation, 1886-2006," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal, Kiel Institute for the World Economy, vol. 2(26), pages 1-10. [Downloadable!]
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  9. M. Ayhan Kose & Eswar Prasad & Marco Terrones, 2003. "Volatility and Comovement in a Globalized World Economy: An Empirical Exploration," IMF Working Papers 03/246, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
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  11. Camacho, Maximo & Pérez-Quirós, Gabriel & Sáiz Matute, Lorena, 2005. "Are European Business Cycles Close Enough to be Just One?," CEPR Discussion Papers 4824, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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