The term structure of interest rates and financial integration in the ERM

Abstract

In this paper we examine the relationship between the term structure of interest rates for six major European Union countries, to discover if the Exchange Rate Mechanism has lead to a converging of domestic term structures. We test this hypothesis using a model of international interest rate parity and three alternative econometric methods. We find that there is evidence of inter-dependence of domestic term structures implying that not only are European monetary polices converging but also that the appropriate model of the term structure is one with an explicit open economy dimension. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.