Hradec Economic Days 2011

Transcription

1 The International Conference Hradec Economic Days 2011 Economic Development and Management of Regions Hradec Králové, February 1 st and 2 nd, 2011 Peer-Reviewed Conference Proceedings Part II. Hradec Králové Gaudeamus 2011

2 Edited by Pavel Jedlička. The publication is under no linguistic supervision. ISBN

3 CONTENT PREFICE... 9 ON THE LOCATION OF THE RETAIL UNITS IN URBAN AREAS Younes Alazoozey, Vladimír Gazda, Marek Gróf, Peter Mihók THE STANDARDIZATION VERSUS ADAPTATION ISSUE FOR THE INTERNATIONAL SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES Andreea Apetrei FINANCIAL INTEGRATION OF EUROPEAN MONEY MARKET: FROM EMU TO THE GLOBAL CRISIS AND BEYOND Andreea Avadanei, Cristina Puiu EVALUATING AND MANAGING SYSTEMIC RISK IN THE EUROPEAN UNION Anamaria Avadanei, Nicolae Ghiba STATE AID IN ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION IN SCANDINAVIAN COUNTRIES Bartosz Bartniczak STUDY REGARDING THE CORRELATION BETWEEN ECONOMIC GROWTH AND ENERGY CONSUMPTION OF A COUNTRY IN A FINANCIAL CRISIS PERIOD Eugen Bradean, Georgeta Vintilă EXPORT DIVERSIFICATION: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS BETWEEN TURKEY AND FOUR TRANSITION ECONOMIES Abdüllatif Çeviker, Murat Mutlu, İsmail Taş ICT INVESTMENTS IN SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES THAT OPERATE IN A LOCAL CONTEXT Domenico Consoli INFLUENCE OF THE CRISIS ON THE TAX POLICY IN THE EU COUNTRIES Ryta I. Dziemianowicz EMPLOYMENT IN ENTITIES WITH FOREIGN CAPITAL - THE EXPERIENCE OF THE EASTERN POLAND MACROREGION Agnieszka Ertman PRIORITIES ECONOMY MODERNIZATION IN THE REGION OF PODKARPACIA Roman Fedan, Marek Smoleń MODERN METHODS OF FINANCING SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES Paulina Filip... 68

4 FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTS AS STIMULANTS AND DETERMINANTS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF MALOPOLSKA PROVINCE Krzysztof Adam Firlej IMPACT OF GLOBALIZATION ON THE OPERATION OF ENTERPRISES OF WIG FOOD INDEX Krzysztof Firlej THE REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF ECONOMIC AGGLOMERATIONS IN TRANSITION ECONOMIES Alexander V. Gladkey SPA POTENTIAL OF TOWNS LOCATED IN CENTRAL POLAND ON AN EXAMPLE OF CIECHOCINEK Eleonora Gonda-Soroczyńska STOCK FUNDAMENTAL ANALYSIS USING P/E INDICATOR FUNDAMENTÁLNÍ ANALÝZA AKCIÍ S VYUŽITÍM UKAZATELE P/E Radim Gottwald SPECIFICITY OF MANAGEMENT IN TERRITORIAL SELF-GOVERNMENT UNITS Mariola Grzebyk DEGREE OF ECONOMIC FREEDOM AND RELATIONSHIP TO ECONOMIC GROWTH AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT Grzegorz Chodak, Krzysztof Kowal INSTITUTIONAL PICTURE OF TRAVEL AGENCIES IN POLAND Małgorzata Januszewska, Mirosław Januszewski THE IMPLEMENTATION OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE DISTRIBUTION OF TRAVEL AGENCIES OFFER Małgorzata Januszewska, Mirosław Januszewski THE DIVERSIFICATION OF EFFICIENCY IN PUBLIC SERVICES Marian Kachniarz BALANCED SCORECARD IN THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT IN SLOVAKIA FOLLOWING THE ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECT Veronika Kaiserová, Peter Sakál HOLISTIC CONCEPT OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP AS THE BASIS FOR DEVELOPMENT Lidia Kaliszczak

5 THE PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP AND THE REGIONAL POLICY OF THE EUROPEAN UNION Aneta Kargol-Wasiluk IMPLICIT CORPORATE TAXATION Ivana Koštuříková FAST FOOD PRODUCTS AND OBESITY A STUDY BASED ON OPINIONS OF STUDENTS OF PRIMARY AND MIDDLE SCHOOLS IN DOLNOŚLĄSKIE VOIVODSHIP Anna Kowalska MARKET RISK BACKTESTING BY ORDINARY LÉVY COPULA MODEL Aleš Kresta, Tomáš Tichý DYNAMICS OF CHANGES OF THE GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT OF POLAND WITHIN Andrzej Krowiak ENOTOURISM AS FORM OF ACTIVATING RURAL AREAS (ON THE BASIS OF THE PROVINCE OF PODKARPACKIE) Wiesława Kuźniar EGTC AS A TOOL OF CROSS-BORDER COOPERATION MANAGEMENT Jerzy Ładysz INNOVATION AS A COMPETITIVE ELEMENT OF MEAT PROCESSING INDUSTRY IN PODKARPACKIE VOIVODSHIP Anetta Makarska CODES OF ETHICS IN THE PUBLIC MANAGEMENT Ondřej Málek SOCIAL CAPITAL AN INTANGIBLE FACTOR OF DEVELOPMENT Urszula Markowska-Przybyła CONCENTRATION AND CONSOLIDATION AS DETERMINANTS OF EXTERNAL COMPETITIVENESS OF ENTERPRISES IN FOOD INDUSTRY Grażyna Michalczuk, Urszula Widelska THE DIFFERENTIATION OF LIVING STANDARD OF POPULATION IN THE SELECTED EUROPEAN COUNTRIES Joanna Muszyńska CHANGES IN SPATIAL DIFFERENTIATION OF PIG LIVESTOCK PURCHASING IN POLAND IN Anna Olszańska

6 CZECH PHOTOVOLTAIC BUSINESS AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT Adam Pawliczek MODELS OF OPTIMAL DOUBLING Jan Pelikán MEASURING AND MANAGING INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL FOR EXTRACTING VALUE IN THE BENEFIT OF ENTERPRISES Luciana Picioruş, Cosmin Ionuţ Imbrişcă NATURAL DISASTERS POLICY IN ZGORZELEC COUNTY Zbigniew Piepiora SPATIAL VARIABILITY IN DEVELOPMENT OF ORGANIC FARMING IN POLAND Arkadiusz Piwowar THE TRANSFORMATIONS IN THE FUNCTIONAL STRUCTURE OF JELENIA GÓRA Zbigniew Przybyła, Katarzyna Przybyła ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY AND ITS INSTRUMENTS IN FLANDERS (THE REGION OF BELGIUM) Michał Ptak COMPETITIVENESS OF EU MEMBER STATES ON THE BASIS OF CIA DATA Edyta Ropuszyńska-Surma, Witold Wilczewski ASSUMPTIONS LEADING TO THE EFFECT OF INNOVATION Žaneta Rylková THE FINANCIAL POSITION OF THE ENTERPRISE Alexandra-Daniela Socea DEVELOPMENT OF INSTITUTIONAL OWNERSHIP IN POLAND Alina Szewc-Rogalska SPECIALIZATION: THE CHANGING STRUCTURE OF THE SOWN AREA IN POLAND IN PERIOD (BY VOIVODSHIPS) Mirosława Szewczyk INFLUENCE OF PROMOTION ACTIONS ON DEVELOPMENT OF A REGION (ON THE BASIS OF THE PROVINCE OF PODKARPACKIE) Wiesław Szopiński SELECTED PROBLEMS OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION IN DOLNOŚLĄSKIE VOIVODSHIP Joanna Szymańska

7 COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE BASED ON SHARED-KNOWLEDGE NETWORK BUILDING Jarmila Šebestová METHODS OF FORECASTING THE PRICES ON THE CROPS MARKET IN CZECH REPUBLIC-WINTER S MODEL Agnieszka Tłuczak THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CATERING INDUSTRY IN POLAND Stanisław Urban DETERMINANTS OF INTERNAL COMPETITIVENESS IN ENTERPRISES BASED ON FOOD INDUSTRY IN PODLASKIE VOIVODSHIP IN POLAND Urszula Widelska, Grażyna Michalczuk MARKETING CONDITIONINGS OF SERVICE MICRO-ENTERPRISES COMPETITIVENESS (BASED ON PODKARPACKIE VOIVODESHIP) Bogdan Wierzbinski THE REGIONAL INNOVATION PARADOX IMPLICATIONS FOR POLISH ECONOMY Anna Wildowicz-Giegiel THE INFLUENCE OF GLOBALIZATION ON MANAGEMENT OF INTERNATIONALIZATION PROCESS OF CZECH ENTREPRENEURIAL SUBJECTS Šárka Zapletalová BUILDING THE LEARNING ORGANIZATIONS: THE ROLE OF LEADERS IN THE LEARNING ORGANIZATIONS Senka Borovac Zekan

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9 PREFICE The 9 th International Conference Hradec Economic Days Economic Development and Management of Regions was held at the Faculty of Informatics and Management, University of Hradec Kralove from February 1 st to February 2 nd, There were presented research results in the fields of economy, business economics, and management, mainly focused on regional problems. Papers are published in two volumes of reviewed proceedings. These volumes include 59 articles in English, and 76 articles in Czech. More than half of participants came from abroad. Conference presentations and discussions were divided into 7 sections. In comparison with previous years, the number of papers increased in the section Macroeconomic Aspects of Regional Development and moreover, further sections were established - namely Mathematic Models in Economics and Economics of Tourism. I am profoundly grateful to my colleagues and reviewers participating on the conference organization and proceedings publication. My acknowledgements go to the editor, Ing. Pavel Jedlička, CSc., and also to Ing. Veronika Jašíková. You are welcome to the 10 th conference in Hradec Králové, January 21 st, 2011 prof. Ing. Ladislav Hájek, CSc. Head of Economics Department Faculty of Informatics and Management University of Hradec Králové

10 ON THE LOCATION OF THE RETAIL UNITS IN URBAN AREAS Younes Alazoozey, Vladimír Gazda, Marek Gróf, Peter Mihók The Technical University of Košice Key words: location retail unit graph theory model Abstract: In this article we analyze the location of retail units in urban areas using a graph theory model. Transforming the map of the urban area into a graph we choose an optimal location of the retail units in the given area. Introduction For a retailer to select the location of the store is a key subject often determining the success of the retail unit, see [1]. In this contribution we consider this problem using a graph theory model. We transform first the map of the given urban area into a graph with every household represented by a vertex. Then we give a model for location of two retail units following given assumptions. We represent the problem as a game on the graph where both players will maximize their payoff functions. Assumptions For the purpose of our analysis we define the following assumptions: consumers minimize their purchase cost comprising of the purchase price and search costs, if the purchase cost is higher than acceptable, the consumers leave the area - each urban area contains two retailers - the market contains only one type of good and each consumer buys one unit of the given good at a price of 1 - each household represents one consumer - each household can become a retailer - distances between households are equidistant and equal to 1 Definitions Let 1;2; ; be a set of customers, ; ; be a set of all pairs of customers and ; is the neighbour of be a set of all pairs of neighboring customers, then ; is a map of the urban area. Let ; be an altering sequence of incident non-recurring vertices and edges, with the starting vertex and the end vertex. We shall call ; a path between and. Let ; ; ; be a set of all paths between and. Then we shall call 10

11 the geodesic distance between and. ; min П ; ; (1) Let 1;2 be the set of players who place their retail unit into one of the households. Then, the set represents their strategy space, with ; being the pair of strategies of the two players and : ; the payoff function. ; is the payoff function of player 1 and ; ; ; 2 ; ; (2) (3) is the payoff function of player 2, where and ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;. (4) (5) Both players will be maximizing their payoff functions, max ; max ; for player 2, respectively. for player 1 and Let ; be the Nash equilibrium pair of strategies, for which and holds. ; ; ; ; ; ; (6) (7) Conclusion After definition of the model we will investigate appropriate strategies which will be evaluated and compared with concrete situations in selected villages. The related problem of the location of one retail unit is studied in [2]. References: [1] KRANTON, R. E., MINEHART, D. F. A Theory of Buyer Seller Networks, Amer. Econ. Rev. 91 (3) (2001), [2] ALAZOOZEY, Y., GAZDA, V., GRÓF, M., KUBÁK, M., MIHÓK, P., ONDREJČOVÁ, Z. On a location of the retail units in small urban areas, Proceedings of the conference National and Regional Economy VIII, 2010, Košice The paper was supported by the grant VEGA No 1/0788/10 11

12 THE STANDARDIZATION VERSUS ADAPTATION ISSUE FOR THE INTERNATIONAL SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES Apetrei Andreea Univeristy Alexandru Ioan Cuza, Iaşi Keys words: SME culture standardization adaptation Abstract: This article aims to analyze the process of the standardization or adaptation of the international SMEs (Small and medium-sized enterprises). The internationalization of the SME is a reality and a desideratum for many entrepreneurs. Giving the disparity of the business environment, SMEs are dealing with the same national specificities as the multinational companies. The decision to standardize or adapt business operations is very important because it will actually affect the fundamental business strategy of the company. However, interviews with foreign entrepreneurs who achieved success in Romania are very revealing, showing that are many differences between the ways a SME and a multinational company cope with the influence of the host-country s culture. 1. The clash of cultures The national traits of any country can build very important and powerful barriers for those who want to expand their affaires. The national culture, the economic, legal or tax systems characterize a country; the extent to which the entrepreneur will adjust to the new market can determine the degree of his business success. As Hostfede [4] states the national cultures have implications for both organizational and management processes. This problem is even challenging when analysing the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). They have to compete with the multinational companies, they have to reach the success with scarce resources and they also have to deal with the effects of the different cultural values. Culture is important in any discussion of entrepreneurship because it determines the attitudes of the individuals towards the beginning of a SME [6]. Intercultural researches showed that management processes are not universal and can not be applied in each country or culture [4]. The relevant literature contains many definitions of culture and it seems that everyone has an own definition. Therefore, there is always challenging to study culture and its elements. It is undeniable the role of culture in our behaviour, in everything we do as well, as Muhlbacher [7] highlights that any behaviour occurs due to a culture. Culture is described as the glue that binds groups together, and provides boundaries for individuals and organizations to operate within and it is made up of many different components, such as language, religion, education, values and standards. 12

13 2. The standardization adaptation debate The influence of culture on international trade has led theorists and practitioners to develop some strategies for international businesses to cope with the cultural specificities. But over time, a dispute was born in the global economic reality: practitioners try to minimize the costs building a standardized strategy for any market, and the theorists highlight that the cultural specificities can create barriers for the company s success. Supporters of company s adaptation to the new business environment believe that cultural differences between countries are very important [9]. Researchers argue that national differences in tastes, customs, regulations and technical requirements are major obstacles against standardization. Furthermore, adaptation supporters also contend that the company's main goal should be the long-term profitability through higher sales, that can be achieved through a better understanding of different people needs, and not the cost savings achieved through standardization [10]. The most important argument of the customization of the activities can increase company profits by meeting their specific requirements [3]. Many studies concluded that the decision whether to standardize or adapt (S-A) the marketing strategy will largely depend on the set of circumstances that a firm is confronted by within a particular foreign market at a specific period of time. There is evidence that different hybrid strategies can be pursued simultaneously and successfully, although at a greater managerial complexity and cost Researchers contend that standardization and adaptation appear to differ only in nuances, in a certain "degree" and less on substance. 3. The practical analysis of the standardization-adaptation issue An entrepreneur brings his own unique set of personal values, motivation to interact with a specific host society and business environment [6]. For the multinational companies is easier to respond to the S-A issue, thanks to a greater experience in the international trade, to a large budget allocated for this. But with the internationalization of the SMEs, rise a new question for future research How does a small enterprise adapt to the host-culture?. The first step of a bigger research upon S-A debate for the international SMEs was the pre-testing. In order to validate the logical reasoning I realized a number of four open interviews with foreign entrepreneurs who came in Romania for starting a small enterprise (for details see table 1). TAB.1: Characteristics of the entrepreneurs SMEs Company Industry Years of activity Entrepreneur s Nationality 1 Consulting 5 Belgian 2 Out-sourcing 3 English 3 Clothing 7 Italian 4 Restaurants 6 Turkish 13

14 The results of the discussions are very interesting because they highlight many differences between the Romanian entrepreneurs and the foreign ones. The foreign entrepreneurs used the same approach when coming in Romania and starting their business. At first, they have implemented a standardized system very poorly adapted to local culture. One of the respondents called this strategy the embassy. The small enterprise was considered as a little embassy of the entrepreneur s homecountry and in this way the employees had to adapt themselves to the culture of their manager and not vice-versa. This approach was supported by the fact the international manager considered the Romanian mentality a problem which could be easily solved by changing it right from the beginning of their work together. FIG.1. Standardization over time Standardization over time The standardization level Years of activity The adaptation process In the most of the cases, the adaptation process to the local culture started after several years of business. The first elements of culture that were the subject of adaptation were the traditional holidays. The international entrepreneurs consider these elements very important for their employs, thinking that respecting a person means showing respect at their holiday too. There is no doubt that the religion is the basis of cultural similarities in those countries that share the same beliefs and behaviours [1], deepening this vision it can be said that differences between religions are becoming differences between cultures [11]. The language of one nation was described as the mirror of culture [11] for reflecting the values of a culture. In global business language is a crucial tool in communicating and negotiations with customers, distributors or employees. Words and concepts may not have the same equivalence even in a similar context [5] Language, as one of culture s components, is an issue for all the international entrepreneurs. The respondents found it as an important barrier. After more that five or six years of businesses in this country most of the foreign managers still did not learn the Romanian language. Meanwhile, the characteristics of the Romania 14

15 language make this element to be one of the reasons for which most of the entrepreneurs came in Romania. First, being a francophone country, Romania becomes very attractive for the French or Belgian business people and secondly, being a bit Latin, it is very easy for the Italians or Spanish managers to start a business in this region. A contingency perspective allows different degrees of standardization that are subject to organizational internal characteristics (resources and international experience) and external environmental forces such as market demand, the nature of the specific industry, competitive pressures and government regulations [6]. Regarding the customs of doing business in Romania, corruption is a bad habit that can not be omitted. In the case of Romania, corruption has different explanations. First of all, there is the poverty, the low wages and numerous taxes that can explain the high level of corruption in the area. Secondly, there is the cultural dimension named Power distance; there is a strong connection between power distance index and corruption [3]. However for the country analyzed, the corruption seams to be more a bad habit than anything else, an element incorporated in the minds of the Romanians. According to Transparency International annual report, for 2010, Romania got 3.7, a high public sector corruption level. The local entrepreneurs consider corruption as a very big threat for their businesses. Meanwhile, all the foreign entrepreneurs have no problem regarding this matter. They argued that they keep their accounting very clean, transparent and in order therefore this bad habit do not affect their activity in any sense. This difference of viewing corruption between the local and the foreign entrepreneurs shows that the Romanians like to complain, to seek culprits, instead of looking for solutions (fact that was strongly approved by the respondents). 4. Conclusions For multinational companies to be successful they should incorporate elements of both approaches standardization and adaptation [2]. The results of the interviews showed that for an international SME this is not required, therefore it can be successful even with a total extreme standardization of the business. The investigation shows that the foreign entrepreneurs start their activity trying to cancel the cultural specificity of the local, building the international SME as embassies of their home country and trying to change the way of thinking of the locals. For most of the foreign entrepreneurs in Romania this strategy seems a successful one. 15

16 Acknowledgement: This work was supported by the European Social Fund in Romania, under the responsibility of the Managing Authority for the Sectoral Operational Programme for Human Resources Development [grant POSDRU/88/1.5/S/47646] References: [1] CZINKOTA, M., RONKAINEN, I. International Marketing, 7th Edition, Thomson South-Western Publisher, 2010, England, ISBN-10: [2] DIMITROVA, B., ROSEBLOOM, B. Standardization Versus Adaptation in Global Markets: Is Channel Strategy Different?, Journal of Marketing Channels, vol. 17, n. 2, p , 2010, ISSN X [3] DÖMEOVÁ, L., HOUŠKA, M., BERÁNKOVÁ, M., Multiple-criteria approach for strategy adaptation in SME s, Agricultural Economics - Czech, vol. 52, n. 4, 2006, p , ISSN X [4] HOFSTEDE, GEERT, Culture's consequences: comparing values, behaviors, institutions, and organizations across nations, Sage Publications, California, 2001, ISBN [5] GIBB, A. Small and medium enterprise development: Borrowing from elsewhere? A research and development agenda, Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 2000, vol. 7, n 3, ISSN [6] MORRISON, A. Entrepreneurship, what triggers it?, International Journal Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research, vol. 6, no. 2, p.59-72, 2000, ISSN [7] MUHLBACHER, H., HELMUTH, L., DAHRINGER, L. International Marketing a Global Perspective, Thomson Learning Publisher, London, 2006, ISBN [8] ONKVISIT, S., SHAW, J. Standardized international advertising: some research issues and implications, Journal of Advertising Research, vol. 39, n. 6, p , 1999, ISSN: [9] VRONTIS, D., The Creation of the AdaptStand Process in International Marketing, Innovative Marketing, vol. 1, n. 2, 2005, ISSN [10] THEODOSIU, L. Standardization versus adaptation of international marketing strategy: an integrative assessment of the empirical research, International Business Review, 12 (20), 2003, p , ISSN [11] ZAIŢ, D., Management Intercultural, Economica Publisher, Bucharest, 2006, ISBN:

17 FINANCIAL INTEGRATION OF EUROPEAN MONEY MARKET: FROM EMU TO THE GLOBAL CRISIS AND BEYOND Andrea Avadanei, Cristina Puiu Univeristy Alexandru Ioan Cuza, Iaşi Key words: money market financial turmoil European integration common currency Abstract: The scope of this article is to illustrate the general issues relevant for understanding the implications of the global crisis on European money market integration. We structured our paper on chapters that present the evolution of the considered market from the launch of euro until the financial turmoil, its main features in the actual context, and the central banks response to the rising tensions on the money market. The assessment of the state of financial integration for the last period is made very difficult by the effects of the financial dislocations on rates and spreads across the different instruments and maturities of this segment. However, the integration and standardization of the money market are not yet complete, and further evolution can be expected. 1. Introduction The elimination of multiple currencies, represented by the creation of the European Monetary Union (EMU), marks the fall of an important barrier against financial integration. Money and bond market integration was an immediate consequence of EMU. The introduction of the euro and the intercept of the single monetary policy on January 1, 1999, accelerated the pace of change. Monitoring the integration of euro area money markets is important for a number of reasons. First, this market is central to the implementation of the single monetary policy of the euro area, since it constitutes the first step in the transmission mechanism of the monetary policy. The monetary market is regularly used by the Eurosystem to distribute liquidity to the market. For example, repo transactions are one of the main instruments used for the Eurosystem s regular refinancing operations. The integration of these markets is therefore essential to allow a smooth flow of liquidity between markets and across country borders so that liquidity is distributed evenly within the money market. Beyond these considerations, money market integration is important for the efficient allocation of resources in the euro area and for promoting a more efficient pricing of short-term debt in the euro area. 17

18 The article is structured to answer two main research questions: Which was the evolution of the euro-money market integration under EMU and how it was affected by the financial turmoil? How did the central banks respond to the rising tensions on the market and what are the perspectives for the future? 2. Dynamics and achievements of the European money market integration before the global crisis The most immediate and extensive impact of EMU has been felt on the euro-area money markets for unsecured money and derivatives. Almost from the outset of EMU, interest rate on inter-bank deposits and derivative contracts across euro area converged fully to on the benchmark EURIBOR and EONIA rates. This rapid convergence reflected early acceptance of the single monetary policy among market participants and was facilitated by the availability of interconnected systems for real-time settlement of large- value payments in the form of TARGET, which was recently been replaced with a more integrated platform, TARGET2. The successful integration of these unsecured markets was crucial to establishing ECB credibility in the very early period of EMU and has provided the basis for a smoothfunctioning single monetary policy thereafter. In this context, the unsecured market became highly liquid and deep, with very big deal sizes, tight bid-ask spreads and equal interest rates at different locations, with the exception of minimal differences, normally well within the bid-ask spreads. The growth of the unsecured segment of the market was concentrated at the shorter maturities, indeed in overnight transactions, which represented by far the largest share of unsecured operations. Between 1999 and 2007, the unsecured market was highly integrated, with the creation of the euro area lending to a near-complete convergence in key indicators, such as the overnight lending rate (EONIA). Integration has been less complete in secured money markets within the euro area, such as the market for T-bills, commercial paper and certificates of deposit, as well as the private repo market. The creation of EUREPO index (the benchmark for secured money market transactions in the euro area) by the European Repo Council and the European Banking Federation in March 2002 was an important initiative for promoting the repo market s integration. As far as the integration of these markets is still hindered by the differences in national legal and tax frameworks and by the persistent fragmentation in national clearing and settlement infrastructures that make difficult the cross-border movement of the collateral [1, 73]. However, the implementation of the Financial Collateral Directive (FCD) has reduced the national legal differences and has contributed to the grater usage of cross-border collateral. Although a source of inefficiency, segmentation in these markets was not considered to be a major opportunity cost for the euro area economy so long as the inter-bank market functioned smoothly. 18

19 Unlike the unsecured and secured segments, the market for short-term securities has shown only limited signs of integration since the introduction of the common currency, mainly because of differences in market practice and standards. Since June 2006, the STEP initiative aims at fostering the integration of this segment by promoting convergence of market standards. In 2007, more than half of the outstanding euro-denominated commercial paper has been assigned the STEP label and its share substantially expanded, even in a period of contraction of the entire market [2, 88]. The segment has therefore the potential to become a truly integrated euro area market, of a dimension comparable to that of the US market. Meanwhile, the markets for euro-denominated derivatives have expanded significantly beyond the size implied by legacy currencies, partly reflecting an explosive growth trend in such instruments on a global level, but also the absence of liquidity in underlying cash securities. Like the unsecured lending market, the euro area interest rate swap rapidly became highly integrated following the introduction of the euro in Price-based measures of integration in the euro area interest rate swap market confirm that this segment indeed already enjoyed a very high degree of integration shortly after the euro s introduction. On the whole, all evidence suggests that the euro area interest rate swap market is not only extremely large and liquid, but also one of the most integrated in the euro area financial landscape [3, 44]. The integration of swaps and future markets is significantly higher than the cash-based markets, reflecting the greater concentration in the derivatives markets among larger, more sophisticated institutions. However, the short-term securities markets are the least integrated component of the money markets: a basic obstacle to a unified short-term securities market has been the diversity in norms and definitions in the design of short-term securities contracts. The European money market has been particularly hit by the turmoil. In our view, asymmetric information on credit risk played a crucial role in the transmission of the US sub-prime mortgage market credit shock to this market. Transactions volumes, especially for longer maturities, have declined, and unsecured rates have been characterized by unusually high elevated spreads. Analyzing the evolution of the repo spreads for the crisis period we see that spreads fluctuated widely, but never returned to their pre-crisis levels (table 1). TAB.1: Descriptive statistics of repo spreads Pre-crisis Crisis EURO UK US EURO UK US Mean Std Min Max Obs

20 Notes: The pre-crisis period refers to the sub-sample March 4, 2002-august 8, 2007 and the crisis period to august 9, 2007-september 14, Euro, UK and US represent the corresponding spreads. Std. denotes the standard deviation and Obs. the number of observation. The unit of measurement is % p.a. In all three regions, the repo spreads of the crisis period were on average more than 50 basis points above those in tranquil times. It is remarkable that during the turmoil, the spreads reached maximum values of 89, 112 and 154 basis points, respectively [4, 7]. In other words, market participants at times were only able to borrow funds on the unsecured money market at a price that exceeded secured money market rates by more than 100 basic points. This dramatic divergence between unsecured and secured money market rates reflects the banks reluctance to lend to each other. Furthermore, the spreads standard deviations are more than five times larger during the crisis than during the tranquil period involving the uncertainty of market participants in the crisis. The 2007/2008 turmoil has led to increased segmentation in the euro area money market [5, 12]. Asymmetric information problems have been a central feature of the malfunctioning of the money markets. This has led to a two-tier market structure, with the larger banks possessing the highest credit standing active in the crossborder money markets whereas smaller banks are confined to trading with domestic counter-parties. 3. Monetary policies of EU central banks in response to the tensions of the money market Central banks in the EU did respond decisively to the rising tensions on the money markets after the collapse of Lehman Brothers. The ECB lowered its borrowing costs by 50 basis points to 3.75 percent in early October 2008, in a coordinated move with the bank of England, the Sveriges Riskbank and various non-eu central banks [6, 56]. More interest rate reduction followed from October 2008 until the summer of 2009, leading to a reduction of the ECB benchmark policy rate by 325 basis points to 100 basis points. Besides the lowering of borrowing costs, central banks stepped in as central providers of liquidity, thereby ensuring the allocation of short term bank funding on dysfunctional money markets. Moreover, the list of collateral eligible for refinancing was expanded, which facilitated banks access to central bank money. With the objective of supporting banks funding beyond very short term horizons, the ECB also raised the volume allotted in its three-month refinancing operations and introduced six-month and twelve-month refinancing operations. The effectiveness of the extensive monetary policy action in Europe and elsewhere should be judged not only in terms of its traditional transmission channels, but also in terms of its success in avoiding a financial meltdown and thus preparing the ground for a return to normal functioning financial markets. 20