Price Level Convergence in Europe: Did the Introduction of the Euro Matter?

Abstract:Several theoretical arguments suggest that price level divergence across EU countries has diminished in the course of the European integration process as a result of both product market integration and the introduction of the common currency. In this paper, we empirically assess this hypothesis for the euro area countries and a group of control countries since 1990, using price level data on over 160 products and services in 27 European cities. Our conclusions confirm that price convergence took place at the beginning of the 1990s. There is, however, not much evidence that the introduction of the single currency has led to a further narrowing of price differentials. In fact, price dispersion has remained remarkably stable in recent years, whereas it has increased slightly since 2003 in the control group.