%0 Journal Article
%@ 2509-7962
%A Sella, Lisa
%A Vivaldo, Gianna
%A Groth, Andreas
%A Ghil, Michael
%D 2016
%F eprints:3500
%I Springer
%J Journal of Business Cycle Research
%K Advanced spectral methods; Business cycles;European Union; Frequency domain; Time domain
%N 1
%P 25-48
%T Economic cycles and their synchronization: a  comparison of cyclic modes in three European countries
%U http://eprints.imtlucca.it/3500/
%V 12
%X The present work applies singular spectrum analysis (SSA) to the study of  macroeconomic   uctuations in three European countries: Italy, The Netherlands,  and the United Kingdom. This advanced spectral method provides valuable  spatial and frequency information for multivariate data sets and goes far  beyond the classical forms of time domain analysis. In particular, SSA enables  us to identify dominant cycles that characterize the deterministic behavior of  each time series separately, as well as their shared behavior. We demonstrate its  usefulness by analyzing several fundamental indicators of the three countries'  real aggregate economy in a univariate, as well as a multivariate setting. Since  business cycles are international phenomena, which show common characteristics  across countries, our aim is to uncover supranational behavior within the  set of representative European economies selected herein. Finally, the analysis  is extended to include several indicators from the U.S. economy, in order to  examine its in  uence on the European economies under study and their interrelationships.