Blaise Gnimassoun

Optimality of a monetary union : New evidence from exchange rate misalignments in West Africa

This paper aims to study the optimality of a monetary union in West Africa by using a new methodology based on the analysis of convergence and co-movements between exchange rate misalignments. Two main advantages characterize this original framework. First, it brings together the information related to several optimum currency area criteria—such as price convergence, terms of trade shocks, trade and fiscal policies—going further than previous studies which are mainly based on only one criterion at a given time. Second, our study detects potential competitiveness differentials which play a key role in the debate on the optimality or not of a monetary union, as evidenced by the recent crisis in the Euro area. Relying on the recent panel cointegration techniques, cluster analyses and robustness tests, our results show that the WAEMU area is the most homogeneous area in Central and Western Africa and could be joined by Ghana, Gambia and, to a lesser extent, Sierra Leone, and that Ghana and Senegal appear to be the best reference countries for the creation of the whole West Africa monetary union.

HOW DO MACROECONOMIC IMBALANCES INTERACT? EVIDENCE FROM A PANEL VAR ANALYSIS

This paper aims at investigating the interactions between three key macroeconomic imbalances, namely current-account discrepancies (external imbalances), output gaps (internal imbalances), and exchange-rate misalignments. To this end, we rely on the estimation of a panel VAR model for a sample of 22 industrialized countries over the 1980-2011 period. Our findings show that macroeconomic imbalances strongly interact through a causal relationship. We evidence that if current-account disequilibria threaten the stability of the global economy, their origin can be found in internal imbalances and exchange-rate misalignments: positive output-gap shocks as well as currency overvaluation deepen current-account deficits. In addition, while variations in external imbalances mainly result from exchange-rate misalignments in the euro area, they are mostly explained by output gaps for non-eurozone members.

Persistence of Current‐Account Disequilibria and Real Exchange‐Rate Misalignments

This paper aims at studying whether the persistence of the gap between the observed current-account position and its equilibrium value nonlinearly depends on real exchange-rate misalignments. Estimating a panel smooth transition regression model on a sample of 22 industrialized countries, we find evidence for this hypothesis, showing that persistence of current-account imbalances strongly depends on the deviation of the real exchange rate from its long-term equilibrium. More specifically, while there is no persistence in cases of currency undervaluation or weak overvaluation, persistence tends to augment for overvaluations higher than 11%. In addition, whereas disequilibria are persistent even for very low overvaluations in the euro area, persistence is observed only for overvaluations higher than 14% for non-eurozone members.

Exchange rate misalignments and the external balance under a pegged currency system

This paper analyzes the link between the exchange rate misalignments and the external balance under a pegged currency system focusing on the CFA zone. Having discussed and chosen an appropriate analytical framework, it addresses the issue of model uncertainty regarding the equilibrium exchange rate model before estimating currency misalignments. The results show that misalignments have a negative and asymmetric impact on the current account. While overvaluation of the CFA franc deteriorates the current account in the CFA zone, undervaluation does not improve it. Finally, our results highlight that the export concentration tends to exacerbate the overall negative impact of currency misalignments on the external balance. Thus, greater economic diversification is needed in an environment in which countries face both uncertainty in the terms of trade and uncertainty in the nominal exchange rate to conduct a proactive exchange rate policy.