S. Kalemli-ozcan et al., Economic integration, industrial specialization, and the asymmetry of macroeconomic fluctuations, J INT ECON, 55(1), 2001, pp. 107-137
We show empirically that regions with a more specialized production structu
re exhibit output fluctuations that are less correlated with those of other
regions (less 'symmetric' fluctuations). Combined with the causal relation
running from capital market integration to regional specialization found i
n an earlier study, this finding supports the idea that higher capital mark
et integration leads to less symmetric fluctuations. This mechanism counter
balances the effect of lower trade-barriers on the symmetry of fluctuations
quantified by Frankel and Rose (1998). Deriving a simple closed form expre
ssion for the gains from risk sharing for CRRA utility is an independent co
ntribution of the present article. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All right
s reserved.