Euro - Mediterranean Zone: Between Macroeconomic and Institutional Integration

Abstract

This paper's purpose is to use a direct and homogeneous measure of regional financial integration for countries which composed the Euro-Mediterranean, economic and financial, principal partners. We tried to gather contributions of three measurements used generally to evaluate financial integration level in order to formalize a global appreciation of this regional phenomenon. Results show that financial yields spread contraction between countries through the period is not due to macroeconomic integration process acceleration but to Euro-Mediterranean institutional similarity.

Keywords: Financial Integration; Interest Rate Parity; Investment; Saving; Central Bank Independence; Euro-Mediterranean Space.