IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ijc/ijcjou/y2007q4a1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Did Prices Really Soar after the Euro Cash Changeover? Evidence from ATM Withdrawals

Author

Listed:
  • Paolo Angelini

    (Research Department, Bank of Italy)

  • Francesco Lippi

    (University of Sassari and CEPR)

Abstract

The introduction of the euro notes and coins in the first two months of 2002 was followed by a lively debate on the alleged inflationary effects of the new currency. In Italy, as in the rest of the euro area, survey-based measures signaled a much sharper rise in inflation than that measured by the official price indices, the quality of which was called into question. In this paper we gather indirect evidence on the behavior of prices from the analysis of cash withdrawals from automated teller machine (ATM) terminals. Since these data do not rely on official inflation statistics, they provide an independent check for the latter. We present a simple set of assumptions to test the hypothesis that, after the introduction of the euro notes and coins, consumer prices increased more than was recorded by the official statistics. We do not find evidence in support of this hypothesis.

Suggested Citation

  • Paolo Angelini & Francesco Lippi, 2007. "Did Prices Really Soar after the Euro Cash Changeover? Evidence from ATM Withdrawals," International Journal of Central Banking, International Journal of Central Banking, vol. 3(4), pages 1-22, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:ijc:ijcjou:y:2007:q:4:a:1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.ijcb.org/journal/ijcb07q4a1.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: http://www.ijcb.org/journal/ijcb07q4a1.htm
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bart Hobijn & Federico Ravenna & Andrea Tambalotti, 2006. "Menu Costs at Work: Restaurant Prices and the Introduction of the Euro," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 121(3), pages 1103-1131.
    2. Eugenio Gaiotti & Francesco Lippi, 2008. "Pricing behaviour and the introduction of the euro: evidence from a panel of restaurants," Springer Books, in: Paolo Giovane & Roberto Sabbatini (ed.), The Euro, Inflation and Consumer’s Perceptions, chapter 3, pages 71-107, Springer.
    3. Ehrmann Michael, 2011. "Inflation Developments and Perceptions after the Euro Cash Changeover," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 12(1), pages 33-58, February.
    4. Wioletta Dziuda & Giovanni Mastrobuoni, 2009. "The Euro Changeover and Its Effects on Price Transparency and Inflation," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 41(1), pages 101-129, February.
    5. repec:pri:cepsud:101mastrobuoni is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Lucas, Robert E, Jr & Stokey, Nancy L, 1987. "Money and Interest in a Cash-in-Advance Economy," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 55(3), pages 491-513, May.
    7. Giovanni Mastrobuoni & Wioletta Dziuda, 2005. "The Euro Changeover and Its Effects on Price Transparency, and Inflation. Mission Euro, Mission Accomplished!," International Finance 0503003, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 24 May 2005.
    8. Giovanni Mastrobuoni, 2004. "The Effects of the Euro-Conversion on Prices and Price Perceptions," Working Papers 101, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Center for Economic Policy Studies..
    9. Giovanni Mastrobuoni, 2004. "The Effects of the Euro-Conversion on Prices and Price Perceptions," Working Papers 101, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Center for Economic Policy Studies..
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Columba, Francesco, 2008. "The speed of euro adoption," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 249-259, March.
    2. Christos Shiamptanis, 2010. "Did the euro give us a break in inflation?," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 39(2), pages 395-411, October.
    3. Marjan Senjur, 2010. "Differential inflation, Phillips curves, and price competitiveness in a new euro-member country," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 43(4), pages 253-273, November.
    4. Giammatteo, Michele & Iezzi, Stefano & Zizza, Roberta, 2022. "Pecunia olet. Cash usage and the underground economy," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 204(C), pages 107-127.
    5. Riccardo Cristadoro & Giovanni Veronese, 2011. "Policy Focus: Monetary policy in India: is something amiss?," Indian Growth and Development Review, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 4(2), pages 166-190, September.
    6. Patrik Bohm & Gabriela Bohmova & Jana Gazdikova, 2016. "Analysis Of The Effects Of The Euro Changeover On The Inflation After 2007," Annals - Economy Series, Constantin Brancusi University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 2, pages 5-15, April.
    7. Francisco Dias & Cláudia Duarte & António Rua, 2010. "Inflation (mis)perceptions in the euro area," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 39(2), pages 353-369, October.
    8. Antonio Filippin & Luca Nunziata, 2019. "Monetary effects of inequality: lessons from the euro experiment," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 17(2), pages 99-124, June.
    9. Michael Ehrmann, 2011. "Inflation Developments and Perceptions after the Euro Cash Changeover," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 12(1), pages 33-58, February.
    10. Louis Sevitenyi Nkwatoh & Yahya Zakari Abdullahi & Chika Usman Aliyu, 2019. "Past and Current European Monetary Union Crises: Lessons for the Envisaged West African Monetary Union," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 9(4), pages 50-59.

    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. Lippi, Francesco & Angelini, Paolo, 2005. "Did Inflation Really Soar After the Euro Cash Changeover? Indirect Evidence from ATM Withdrawals," CEPR Discussion Papers 4950, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    2. Ehrmann, Michael, 2006. "Rational inattention, inflation developments and perceptions after the euro cash changeover," Working Paper Series 588, European Central Bank.
    3. Jaanika Meriküll & Tairi Rõõm, 2015. "One Currency, One Price? Euro Changeover-Related Inflation in Estonia," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(4), pages 822-839, July.
    4. Paolo Giovane & Roberto Sabbatini, 2008. "Perceived and measured inflation after the launch of the euro: explaining the gap in Italy," Springer Books, in: Paolo Giovane & Roberto Sabbatini (ed.), The Euro, Inflation and Consumer’s Perceptions, chapter 1, pages 13-49, Springer.
    5. Fabrizio Adriani & Giancarlo Marini & Pasquale Scaramozzino, 2009. "The Inflationary Consequences of a Currency Changeover on the Catering Sector: Evidence from the Michelin Red Guide," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 71(1), pages 111-133, February.
    6. Marco Ercolani, 2010. "Transitional price rises with the adoption of the euro: aggregate and disaggregate sector evidence," Journal of Economic Policy Reform, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 13(2), pages 137-157.
    7. Bart Hobijn & Federico Ravenna & Andrea Tambalotti, 2006. "Menu Costs at Work: Restaurant Prices and the Introduction of the Euro," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 121(3), pages 1103-1131.
    8. Krystian Mucha, 2010. "Czynniki wyjaśniające zjawisko luki percepcji wśród konsumentów w okresie przyjmowania euro," Gospodarka Narodowa. The Polish Journal of Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, issue 1-2, pages 67-87.
    9. Valentin Jouvanceau, 2021. "The Effect of the Euro Changeover on Prices: Evidence from Lithuania," Bank of Lithuania Working Paper Series 93, Bank of Lithuania.
    10. Stix, Helmut, 2009. "Perceived inflation and the euro: Evidence from an Austrian survey," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 547-561, December.
    11. Karel Lacina, 2011. "Remarks to the Development of Public Administration from the Concept of ½Government½ to the Concept of ½Governance½," ACTA VSFS, University of Finance and Administration, vol. 5(2), pages 126-147.
    12. Christian Bauer & Sebastian Weber, 2016. "The Efficiency of Monetary Policy when Guiding Inflation Expectations," Research Papers in Economics 2016-14, University of Trier, Department of Economics.
    13. Parsley, David & Wei, Shang-Jin, 2008. "In search of a euro effect: Big lessons from a Big Mac Meal?," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 260-276, March.
    14. repec:awi:wpaper:0477 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Denis Fougère & Erwan Gautier & Hervé Le Bihan, 2010. "Restaurant Prices and the Minimum Wage," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 42(7), pages 1199-1234, October.
    16. Nicoletta Berardi & Thomas Eife & Erwan Gautier, 2014. "Optimal price setting during a currency changeover: theory and evidence from french restaurants," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(23), pages 2766-2782, August.
    17. Tairi Room & Katri Urke, 2014. "The Euro Changeover in Estonia: implications for inflation," Bank of Estonia Working Papers wp2014-6, Bank of Estonia, revised 10 Oct 2014.
    18. Sarah M. Lein & Thomas Maag, 2011. "The Formation Of Inflation Perceptions: Some Empirical Facts For European Countries," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 58(2), pages 155-188, May.
    19. Wioletta Dziuda & Giovanni Mastrobuoni, 2009. "The Euro Changeover and Its Effects on Price Transparency and Inflation," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 41(1), pages 101-129, February.
    20. Lunn, Pete & Duffy, David, 2010. "The Euro Through the Looking-Glass: Perceived Inflation Following the 2002 Currency Changeover," Papers WP338, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    21. Felix Hüfner & Isabell Koske, 2008. "The Euro Changeover in the Slovak Republic: Implications for Inflation and Interest Rates," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 632, OECD Publishing.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E31 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Price Level; Inflation; Deflation
    • E41 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Demand for Money
    • E50 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - General

    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:ijc:ijcjou:y:2007:q:4:a:1. 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: Bank for International Settlements (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.ijcb.org/ .

    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.