The price-rent ratio in commercial real estate is highly volatile, and its variation comoves with the business cycle. To account for these two facts, we develop a dynamic general equilibrium model that explicitly introduces a rental market and incorporates the liquidity constraint on an...

We apply the advanced time-and-frequency-domain method of singular spectrum analysis to study business cycle dynamics in a set of nine U.S. macroeconomic indicators. This method provides a robust way to identify and reconstruct shared oscillations, whether intermittent or modulated. We address...

This paper investigates the changing nature of economic integration in China. Specifically, we consider business-cycle synchronization (correlation of demand and supply shocks) among Chinese provinces during the period 1955-2007. We find that the symmetry of supply shocks has declined after the...

This paper empirically assesses the impact of specialisation on the synchronisation of regional business cycles in two core countries of EMU, namely France and Germany. Several specialisation indices are introduced and some first stylised facts about interregional business cycle correlations are...

The accession of Central European countries to the European Union implies the possibility of euro area membership once the Maastricht nominal convergence criteria will be met. This raises the question about costs and benefits of an enlarged euro area. In particular, the prospects for structural...

According to difference-in-difference estimates business cycle synchronization and similarity in sector structures between acceding and pre-existing regions reduced after Eastern Enlargement. Results for Northern enlargement are more ambiguous. In both enlargements, however, region pairs...

The global financial crisis and the subsequent uneven recovery have underscored the need for Africa's resilience to output and other shocks originated in the rest of the world. A comparison of two regional economic communities - the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern Africa Customs...

This paper examines the degree of trade integration and business cycle synchronisation between eight Balkan countries and the Euro area over the period 2000:1-2011:4. The main findings are that Slovenia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia exhibit a high level of openness relative to...

In this paper, we map the process of synchronization of the Visegrad Four within the framework of the European Union using wavelet techniques. We show that the relationship of among countries is dynamic and that it varies over time and across frequencies. We study the synchronization applying...