INTEGRATION FINANCIERE ET SYNCHRONISATION DES CYCLES ECONOMIQUES DANS LA CEMAC

Résumé

The purpose of this article is to evaluate the effects of financial integration on the degree of synchronization of economic cycles in the CEMAC zone. To achieve this, the theory used is that of optimal currency areas, in its endogenous version. A dynamic panel data model of CEMAC member countries is estimated. The main results show that : (i) the convergence of inflation rates, as well as that of interest rates, which are parameters reflecting financial integration, weakly improve the degree of synchronization of economic cycles in the CEMAC. (ii) The specialization index positively affects the synchronization of economic cycles in the sub-region, a result that can be justified by the extroverted nature of national production.