The Regional Effects of Monetary Policy in Europe

Abstract

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at https://about.jstor.org/terms Abstract Since the inception of EMU, a common concern is that European monetary policy may have, differential effects on EMU member countries. However, the reliance on crosscountry evidence in the empirical literature risks overem phasizing the importance of crosscountry differences in monetary transmission. This paper therefore takes a regional approach. Data from 58 European regions show significant cross-regional differences in the effects of monetary policy within the five largest EU countries. For all regions combined, I find a significant relationship between the impact of monetary policy and the industrial composition of regions, supporting earlier findings for the US. I conclude that at present the large European countries are regionally well-diversified enough to minimize the risk that ECB policy will produce a markedly different impact across countries. • JEL Classification: E50 •