Typically, the catching-up process between rich Northern Europe and poor Southern Europe and the diverging cost competitiveness between the two regions are considered alternative explanations for the widening current account imbalances in the euro area. This paper proposes a new explanation for...

During the pre-EMU period changes in real effective exchange rate or faster-than-trading-partners growth rates Granger caused changes in trade balance in most of the EMU-12 countries. However, our data driven article provides evidence that after the adoption of euro, these Granger causalities...

Many studies have explored the determinants of current account balances in Europe. However, only in a few studies have trade imbalances been decomposed into intra balances, trade balances vis-à-vis the euro area, and extra balances, trade balances vis-à-vis the rest of the world. In this...