Business cycles in Central and East European countries

The article studies the properties of business cycles in seven Central and East European countries (CEEC-7). The properties are compared using multivariate wavelet analysis. The evidence of the study suggests that the length of the business cycles in the CEEC-7 is gradually decreasing to the business cycle length of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and volatility seems to decline after transformation depression. From the viewpoint of synchronization between the European Union (EU) and the CEEC-7, the study suggests three groups of countries. More synchronization is found in countries where greater internationalization of enterprises and greater product and financial market linkages to EU markets are present.