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Adjustment in the Euro Area and Regulation of Product and Labour Markets: An Empirical Assessment

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  • Biroli, Pietro
  • Mourre, Gilles
  • Turrini, Alessandro Antonio

Abstract

This paper analyses the adjustment mechanism in the euro area. Results show that the real exchange rate (REER) adjusts in such a way to redress cyclical divergences and that after monetary unification REER dynamics have become less reactive to country-specific shocks but also less persistent. It is found that regulations, notably affecting price and wage nominal flexibility and employment protection, play a role in the adjustment mechanism. Indicators of product and labour regulations appear to matter for both the reaction of price competitiveness to cyclical divergences (differences between national and euro-area output gaps) and for the inertia of competitiveness indicators. Moreover, regulations appear to matter also for the extent to which common shocks may have country-specific effects on price competitiveness, as revealed by their interaction with proxies of unobservable common shocks á-la Blanchard and Wolfers (2000). In light of the tendency towards less stringent regulations in past decades, the results seem consistent with the observed reduction in the persistence of inflation differentials, and have implications for the design of adjustment-friendly product and labour market reforms.

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Paper provided by C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers in its series CEPR Discussion Papers with number 8010.

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Date of creation: Sep 2010
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Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:8010
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Keywords: competitiveness; euro area adjustment; labour and product market institutions; monetary unification; nominal flexibility; regulations;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
  • E30 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
  • F41 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - Open Economy Macroeconomics

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  1. Alfonso Arpaia & Karl Pichelmann, 2007. "Nominal and real wage flexibility in EMU," International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer, vol. 4(3), pages 299-328, November.
  2. Andrea Bassanini & Romain Duval, 2006. "Employment Patterns in OECD Countries: Reassessing the Role of Policies and Institutions," OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers 35, OECD Publishing.
  3. Holden, Steinar & Wulfsberg, Fredrik, 2005. "Downward Nominal Wage Rigidity in the OECD," Memorandum 10/2005, Oslo University, Department of Economics.
  4. Fabiani, S. & Druant, M. & Hernando, I. & Kwapil, C. & Landau, B. & Loupias, C. & Martins, F. & Mathä, T. & Sabbatini, R. & Stahl, H. & Stockman, A., 2005. "The Pricing Behaviour of Firms in the Euro Area: New Survey Evidence," Working papers 135, Banque de France.
  5. Fabiani, Silvia & Druant, Martine & Hernando, Ignacio & Kwapil, Claudia & Landau, Bettina & Loupias, Claire & Martins, Fernando & Matha, Thomas & Sabbatini, Roberto & Stahl, Harald & Stokman, Ad, 2006. "What Firms' Surveys Tell Us about Price-Setting Behavior in the Euro Area," MPRA Paper 808, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  6. Steinar Holden, 2004. "The Costs of Price Stability: Downward Nominal Wage Rigidity in Europe," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 71(281), pages 183-208, 05.
  7. Romain Duval & Jørgen Elmeskov & Lukas Vogel, 2007. "Structural Policies and Economic Resilience to Shocks," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 567, OECD Publishing.
  8. Paul Conway & Véronique Janod & Giuseppe Nicoletti, 2005. "Product Market Regulation in OECD Countries: 1998 to 2003," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 419, OECD Publishing.
  9. Paul Conway & Giuseppe Nicoletti, 2006. "Product Market Regulation in the Non-Manufacturing Sectors of OECD Countries: Measurement and Highlights," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 530, OECD Publishing.
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Cited by:

  1. Berger, Helge & Nitsch, Volker, 2014. "Wearing corset, losing shape: The euro's effect on trade imbalances," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 136-155.
  2. Larch, Martin & van den Noord, Paul & Jonung, Lars, 2011. "The Stability and Growth Pact: Lessons from the Great Recession," Working Papers 2011:6, Lund University, Department of Economics.
  3. Vogel, Lukas, 2012. "Structural reforms, fiscal consolidation and external rebalancing in monetary union: A model-based analysis," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 1286-1298.
  4. Moretti, Laura, 2014. "The determinants of inflation differentials in the euro area," CFS Working Paper Series 451, Center for Financial Studies (CFS).
  5. Helge Berger & Volker Nitsch, 2010. "The Euro’s Effecton Trade Imbalances," IMF Working Papers 10/226, International Monetary Fund.
  6. Mariarosaria Comunale & Jeroen Hessel, 2014. "Current account imbalances in the Euro area: Competitiveness or financial cycle?," DNB Working Papers 443, Netherlands Central Bank, Research Department.
  7. Hanan Morsy & Florence Jaumotte, 2012. "Determinants of Inflation in the Euro Area; The Role of Labor and Product Market Institutions," IMF Working Papers 12/37, International Monetary Fund.
  8. International Monetary Fund, 2011. "Spain; Selected Issues," IMF Staff Country Reports 11/216, International Monetary Fund.
  9. Klaas Knot & Silvie Verkaart, 2013. "The European debt crisis and a stable design of EMU," Chapters, in: A New Model for Balanced Growth and Convergence, chapter 4, pages 36-46 Edward Elgar Publishing.

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