International risk sharing and European monetary unification

• 成果类型: Article; Proceedings Paper
• 署名作者: Sorensen, BE; Yosha, O
• 署名单位: Tel Aviv University; Brown University
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-1996
• DOI: 10.1016/S0022-1996(98)00033-6
• 发表日期: 1998
• 页码: 211-238
• 关键词: government deficits; Income insurance; International capital markets; International integration; risk sharing

摘要

We explore income and consumption smoothing patterns among European Community (EC) countries and among OECD countries during the period 1966-90. We find that, for OECD as well as for EC countries, about 40 percent of shocks to GDP are smoothed at the one year frequency, with about half the smoothing achieved through national government budget deficits and half by corporate saving. At the three year differencing frequency only 25 percent of shocks to GDP are smoothed, mainly via government lending and borrowing. In the absence of alternative income and consumption smoothing mechanisms, the restrictions on budget deficits imposed by the Maastricht Treaty should be relaxed to allow governments to run large temporary deficits in response to output shocks. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.