On European monetary integration and the persistence of real effective exchange rates

This paper deals with the possibility of changing persistence in European real effective exchange rates as initially analyzed by Gadea and Gracia (2009). By applying a CUSUM of squares-based test for constant versus changing persistence with desirable statistical properties, an OECD data set is reconsidered. The empirical results suggest that persistence remains constant over time for nearly all time series. Thus, European monetary integration has not affected the persistence of external competitiveness significantly. Moreover, strong evidence for non-stationarity is found. Explanations for the sharp contrast of new results towards the ones by Gadea and Gracia (2009) are provided.