Publication of a volume entitled «South-Eastern European Monetary and Economic Statistics from the Nineteenth Century to World War II»
05/12/2014 - Press Releases
The Bank of Greece published today a volume entitled «South-Eastern European Monetary and Economic Statistics from the Nineteenth Century to World War II». It is a joint, English-language publication by the Bank of Albania, the Bank of Greece, the Bulgarian National Bank, the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey, the National Bank of Romania, the National Bank of Serbia and the Oesterreichische Nationalbank, posted on the same day on the websites of all banks that participated in the publication.
This data volume represents a milestone in the joint endeavour of the central banks of the South-East European Monetary History Network (SEEMHN) to publish harmonised long-run time series on monetary, financial and other macroeconomic variables of the countries of South-Eastern Europe (SEE Macro History Database). This data volume aims at filling the gap in international literature by shedding light on the monetary history of the countries in this region.
Recognising the need for reliable data as a basis for empirical studies, the above-mentioned central banks have cooperated since 2006 to establish a database of 19th and 20th century monetary and financial data for South-Eastern Europe.
Most of the available literature on economic and monetary history deals with the advanced countries of Western Europe and the United States of America. The monetary and financial history of South-Eastern Europe, however, is still largely unexplored. So far, historical study of the monetary policy pursued by these countries has not been systematic. A key drawback was the lack of reliable data.
The volume is foreworded by Yannis Stournaras, Governor of the Bank of Greece, Ivan Iskrov, Governor of the Bulgarian National Bank, Mugur Constantin Isărescu, Governor of the National Bank of Romania, and Ewald Nowotny, Governor of the Oesterreichische Nationalbank, as well as three high-profile scholars: Michael Bordo (Rutgers University and NBER), Luis A. V. Catão (International Monetary Fund and Joint Vienna Institute) and Nicos Christodoulakis (Athens University of Economics and Business).
Free access is available on the websites of:
Bank of Greece
Bank of Albania
Bulgarian National Bank
National Bank of Romania
National Bank of Serbia
Oesterreichische Nationalbank