The purpose of this paper is two-fold. First, we compare the accuracy of previous studies that analyze the ability of the Composite Index of Leading Indicators (CLI) for predicting turning points. Alternative filters are also proposed. For these comparisons, we adapt the tests developed by...

This paper analyzes if each European country presents business cycles that are similar enough to validate what some authors call the European cycle. Contrary to the majority of papers on business cycles, we concentrate on the appearance of the cycle, not on the synchronization. We provide a...

We propose a comprehensive methodology to characterize the business cycle comovements across European economies and some industrialized countries, always trying to "leave the data speak". Out of this framework, we propose a novel method to show that there is no "Euro economy" that acts as an...