European asymmetries

The degree of symmetry of the shocks that cause macroeconomic fluctuations in the different European economies is a basic consideration when evaluating the cost in terms of loss of the nominal exchange rate as an instrument for short-term macroeconomic adjustment, The more symmetrical these shocks, the lower the costs. This paper uses a structural Bayesian Vector Autoregressive (BVAR) approach and quarterly data from 1970 to 1996 to characterise the responses to common and specific, nominal and real, shocks in four European economies. Our findings suggest that, in the short run, asymmetrical shocks have dominated. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.