This conference volume discusses the pros and cons of early integration into the European Union of Eastern transition countries, given the information available at the turn of the century. The questions posed refer to the structural gap between accession countries (ACs) and the EU, the optimal...

Purpose - A spectre is hunting embryonic African monetary zones: the EMU crisis. This paper assesses real and monetary policy convergence within the proposed WAM and EAM zones. The introduction of common currencies in West and East Africa is facing stiff challenges in the timing of monetary...

Purpose - A spectre is hunting embryonic African monetary zones: the EMU crisis. This paper assesses real, monetary and fiscal policy convergence within the proposed WAM and EAM zones. The introduction of common currencies in West and East Africa is facing stiff challenges in the timing of...

Purpose - Assessment of African financial development dynamic convergences in money, credit, efficiency and size. Design/Methodology - The empirical evidence is premised on 11 homogenous panels based on regions (Sub-Saharan and North Africa), income-levels (low, middle, lower-middle and...

Purpose - A major lesson of the EMU crisis is that serious disequilibria result from regional monetary arrangements not designed to be robust to a variety of shocks. The purpose of this paper is to assess these disequilibria within the CEMAC, UEMOA and CFA zones. Design/methodology/approach - In...

This study provides a survey of recent advances in the literature on proposed African monetary unions. The survey comprises about 60 empirical papers published during the past fifteen years. Four main strands are discussed individually and collectively, notably, the proposed: West African...

This paper examines the association between trade and financial linkages among European countries. We find that, with the introduction of the euro, trade imbalances among euro area members widened considerably, even after allowing for permanent asymmetries in trade competitiveness within pairs...

Does exchange rate variability affect the speed of external adjustment? We study bilateral trade balances for a sample of 18 European countries over the period from 1948 through 2008. We find that, with the introduction of the euro, trade imbalances among euro area members widened considerably,...

Commercial integration in the Mercosur area has increased substantially in the last few years and it is expected to continue to grow rapidly in the near future. However, given the historical record of policy management in the region, especially in Brazil and Argentina, the main partners of this...