ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the link between financial integration and external financial shocks in Maghreb countries. After the financial crisis of 2001, the Turkish economic growth has declined significantly. A study by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 2008 showed that the share of intra-Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) trade in world trade has more than doubled over the past twenty years and now accounts for a quarter of total trade conducted by the region. Foreign direct investment (FDI) within the bloc and with neighbouring countries has also intensified. For Maghreb countries, greater financial integration and regional trade will have positive repercussions for each country. Most of the studies mentioned in the literature review, which have investigated the relationship between financial integration and economic growth, have used vector autoregressive (VAR) models. However, the experience of the past two decades has led economists and policy makers to recognize that open financial markets may also generate significant costs.
