IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ces/ceswps/_12675.html

The Euro as an Optimum Currency Area? A Reappraisal

Author

Listed:
  • Moritz Pfeifer
  • Gunther Schnabl

Abstract

This paper reassesses whether the euro area satisfies the criteria of an optimum currency area. It contrasts early hopes of convergence with subsequent developments marked by persistent heterogeneity across member states. Differences in economic structures, fiscal policies, and financial cycles have produced asymmetries that a single monetary policy cannot offset. Labor mobility and fiscal integration remain limited, shifting adjustment burdens onto prices, wages, and financial flows. Credit expansion and later retrenchment amplified divergence, culminating in the sovereign debt crisis. Since then, cohesion has relied heavily on unconventional monetary policies and fiscal support mechanisms, with notable effects on inflation dynamics, growth performance, and income distribution. The analysis concludes that the euro area has not evolved toward optimality and faces rising risks unless institutional reforms or structural changes are undertaken.

Suggested Citation

  • Moritz Pfeifer & Gunther Schnabl, 2026. "The Euro as an Optimum Currency Area? A Reappraisal," CESifo Working Paper Series 12675, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12675
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.ifo.de/DocDL/cesifo1_wp12675.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Patrick Honohan & Philip R. Lane, 2003. "Divergent inflation rates in EMU [‘European financial integration and equity returns: a theory-based assessment’]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 18(37), pages 357-394.
    2. repec:bla:ecpoli:v:18:y:2003:i:37:p:357-394 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Campos, Nauro F. & Macchiarelli, Corrado, 2016. "Core and Periphery in the European Monetary Union: Bayoumi and Eichengreen 25 years later," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 127-130.
    4. Paul De Grauwe & Gunther Schnabl, 2008. "Exchange Rate Stability, Inflation, and Growth in (South) Eastern and Central Europe," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(3), pages 530-549, August.
    5. Ronald I. McKinnon, 2004. "Optimum Currency Areas and Key Currencies: Mundell I versus Mundell II," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(4), pages 689-715, November.
    6. Taiki Murai & Gunther Schnabl, 2021. "Macroeconomic Policy Making and Current Account Imbalances in the Euro Area," CESifo Working Paper Series 9153, CESifo.
    7. Maurice Obstfeld and Giovanni Peri., 1998. "Regional Nonadjustment and Fiscal Policy: Lessons for EMU," Center for International and Development Economics Research (CIDER) Working Papers C98-096, University of California at Berkeley.
    8. Gunther Schnabl & Tim Florian Sepp, 2021. "Inflationsziel und Inflationsmessung in der Eurozone im Wandel [Inflation Targeting and Inflation Measurement in the Euro Area in Transition]," Wirtschaftsdienst, Springer;ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 101(8), pages 615-620, August.
    9. Frankel, Jeffrey A & Rose, Andrew K, 1998. "The Endogeneity of the Optimum Currency Area Criteria," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 108(449), pages 1009-1025, July.
    10. Bradley, Jake & Kügler, Alice, 2019. "Labor market reforms: An evaluation of the Hartz policies in Germany," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 108-135.
    11. Iain Begg, 2009. "Regulation and Supervision of Financial Intermediaries in the EU: The Aftermath of the Financial Crisis," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(5), pages 1107-1128, November.
    12. repec:bla:jcmkts:v:47:y:2009:i::p:1107-1128 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Christl Michael, 2025. "Germany’s Fiscal Turn: Structural Challenges, Political Risks, and European Spillover Effects," The Economists' Voice, De Gruyter, vol. 22(2), pages 223-236.
    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. Marc-Alexandre Sénégas, 2010. "La théorie des zones monétaires optimales au regard de l'euro : Quels enseignements après dix années d'union économique et monétaire en Europe ?," Revue d'économie politique, Dalloz, vol. 120(2), pages 379-419.
    2. Michael Artis, 2008. "What do we now know about currency unions?," Macroeconomics and Finance in Emerging Market Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 1(1), pages 13-29.
    3. Iulia Siedschlag, 2008. "Macroeconomic Differentials and Adjustment in the Euro Area," SUERF Studies, SUERF - The European Money and Finance Forum, number 2008/3 edited by Morten Balling, May.
    4. repec:ejw:journl:v:7:y:2010:i:1:p:4-52 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Quint, Dominic, 2014. "How Large Is the Stress from the Common Monetary Policy in the Euro Area?," VfS Annual Conference 2014 (Hamburg): Evidence-based Economic Policy 100341, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    6. Saulius Jokubaitis & Dmitrij Celov, 2023. "Business Cycle Synchronization in the EU: A Regional-Sectoral Look through Soft-Clustering and Wavelet Decomposition," Journal of Business Cycle Research, Springer;Centre for International Research on Economic Tendency Surveys (CIRET), vol. 19(3), pages 311-371, November.
    7. Francesco Paolo Mongelli, 2008. "European Economic and Monetary Integration, and the Optimum Currency Area Theory," European Economy - Economic Papers 2008 - 2015 302, Directorate General Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), European Commission.
    8. Alcobia, João & Sobreira, Nuno & Cabral, Ricardo, 2025. "What could have been? A synthetic control evaluation of the effect of the Economic and Monetary Union on the net external wealth of periphery member states," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 49(3).
    9. Campos, Nauro F. & Macchiarelli, Corrado, 2021. "The dynamics of core and periphery in the European monetary union: A new approach," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    10. Filippo Cesarano, 2006. "Optimum currency areas: a policy view," BNL Quarterly Review, Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, vol. 59(239), pages 317-332.
    11. Dennis Nchor, 2020. "Labour mobility as an adjustment mechanism to asymmetric shocks in Europe: evidence from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 54(1), pages 1-19, December.
    12. Erdem Kilic & Veysel Ulusoy, 2015. "Evidence for Financial Contagion in Endogenous Volatile Periods," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(1), pages 62-74, February.
    13. Barrett, Alan & Bergin, Adele & FitzGerald, John & Traistaru-Siedschlag, Iulia, 2006. "Economic Assessment of the Euro Area: Forecasts and Policy Analysis, Autumn Report 2006," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number sustat22.
    14. Mr. Plamen K Iossifov & Ms. Misa Takebe & Zaijin Zhan & Mr. Noriaki Kinoshita & Mr. Robert C York, 2009. "Improving Surveillance Across the CEMAC Region," IMF Working Papers 2009/260, International Monetary Fund.
    15. Mohd Hussain Kunroo, 2015. "Theory of Optimum Currency Areas," Review of Market Integration, India Development Foundation, vol. 7(2), pages 87-116, August.
    16. Fritz Breuss, 2009. "10 Jahre WWU – Erfolge, Schwächen und Herausforderungen," WIFO Monatsberichte (monthly reports), WIFO, vol. 82(1), pages 61-84, January.
    17. Fritz Breuss, 2009. "Ten Years of EMU – Achievements, Weaknesses, Challenges," Austrian Economic Quarterly, WIFO, vol. 14(1), pages 49-72, April.
    18. Emmanuel CARRÉ & Frédérique FESTOC & Patricia LE MAITRE, 2025. "Quo Vadis regional monetary integration? Major trends in the optimum currency area literature over the last 60 years: A bibliometric approach," Region et Developpement, Region et Developpement, LEAD, Universite du Sud - Toulon Var, vol. 62, pages 67-98.
    19. Cavallero, Alessandro, 2011. "The convergence of inflation rates in the EU-12 area: A distribution dynamics approach," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 341-357, June.
    20. Dominic Quint, 2016. "Is it really more dispersed?," International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer, vol. 13(4), pages 593-621, October.
    21. Thierry Warin & Phanindra V. Wunnava & Hubert P. Janicki, 2009. "Testing Mundell's Intuition of Endogenous OCA Theory," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(1), pages 74-86, February.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy
    • F33 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - International Monetary Arrangements and Institutions
    • F45 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - Macroeconomic Issues of Monetary Unions

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:ces:ceswps:_12675. 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: Klaus Wohlrabe (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cesifde.html .

    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.