Is the Bundesbank different from other central banks: A study based onP *

An important question for the future of European Monetary Union is whether the central banks of the European member states are fundamentally similar or are there real differences between them. Much casual evidence seems to suggest that the Bundesbank is fundamentally different in its method of operation from the other central banks. This paper attempts to find econometric evidence which may clarify this situation. It proceeds by drawing on theP ^* literature, which models the determination of inflation, and recent developments in the cointegration literature which allows a more complete treatment of causality than has hitherto been possible. It is argued that there does appear to be evidence that the Bundesbank operates in a qualitatively different way from the other Banks.