Trends in Business Cycles Synchronization in the EMU

Abstract

The synchronization of business cycles is associated with optimal currency areas. Being a prerequisite for membership in such a zone was questioned by the view that the synchronization of economic cycles would result from the very operation of the optimal currency zone. An empirical observation of the business cycles in the Eurozone seems, however, to show that this synchronization has not increased, especially in relation to the so-called peripheral countries, which of course raises questions about that association. The chapter therefore seeks to verify whether the synchronization of the business cycles of the Eurozone countries has actually increased or, if it has decreased, in which countries this has taken place.