This paper analyzes the various costs and benefits associated with the Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union, specifically with respect to Hungary, though much of the theory can be applied generally across all Central and Eastern European EU member states. It begins with an examination of factors that have potentially slowed Hungary's economic progress on the institutional and macroeconomic level. Next, the political origins and significance of the EMU are considered. EMU membership brings more than economic benefit; it is a symbolic achievement that a country has advanced to a position that allows it to be put in the same category as the more developed economies of the West, and also signals a step towards the “inner circle” of the European Union. Some of the theoretical foundations of monetary and currency unions are then presented: the optimum currency area theory (OCA), the exogeneity theory of OCA, the endogeneity theory of OCA, pro-cyclical fiscal policy as it applies to developing countries, costs of euro area accession, the effects of financial integration, and the effect of euro membership on foreign direct investment (FDI). Then, an empirical overview of how well the monetary union has functioned with respect to expectations is presented. After that, a comparison with Greece is made to determine whether the EMU would consider them as a member even if the criteria were met. Finally, a comparison of Hungary's economic data is juxtaposed with that of the Maastricht criteria.

Poland has joined the European Union and is set to join the European Monetary Union (EMU) in the near future. Euro area membership involves potential costs and benefits. On the one hand, Poland will abolish the zloty/euro exchange rate and, as a result, transaction costs and exchange rate risk within the single currency area will be eliminated. On the other hand, it is argued that a single currency area implies the costs stemming from the sacrifice of autonomous monetary stabilization policy, which allows for an independent interest rate policy, and an exchange rate adjustment mechanism in the presence of country-specific shocks. This dissertation focuses on a quantitative assessment of the economic costs of joining the EMU. The evaluation of the volatility of main macroeconomic variables under the current inflation targeting regime and fixed exchanged rate is performed within an optimizing dynamic general equilibrium model of a small open economy with nominal rigidities. Model dynamics under terms of trade and world interest rate shocks are investigated. We find that the euro adoption implies a higher macroeconomic volatility. Analyzing the impact of terms of trade shock, the inflation targeting regime is more favorable, as an inability to devalue the currency under the euroization scenario leads to a slower recovery in demand for non-tradable goods and thus consumption. Considering the impact of a sudden decline in the world interest rate, an excessive zloty appreciation and the tightening of monetary policy under inflation targeting pushes the economy into a deeper recession compared to the adoption of the euro regime, while long-run implications are almost the same for the two scenarios. / Economics

The goal of this diploma thesis is to assess the suitability and readiness of the Slovak Republic to adopt a single European currency. In analyzing the costs and benefits relating to Slovakia?s accession to the EMU, this thesis is guided by the theory of the OCA. The thesis provides a survey of the OCA theory, attempts to measure some of the OCA indicators and calculate OCA index for Slovakia. The results suggest that Slovakia fulfils the necessary condition for joining the monetary union, i.e. it is relatively well aligned with the euro area. The diploma thesis concludes that Slovakia is relatively suitable and well-prepared to join the euro area in 2009.

This thesis will deal with a current issue - euro adoption in the Czech Republic. The three neighboring countries of the Czech Republic have already adopted the euro. The Czech Republic lie under an obligation to adopt the euro and solve the arguments for and against early entry to the Euroarea at this time. The issue will be solved from the perspective of euro adoption in Slovakia. Both of the republics had the "same" default position seventeen years ago. Why is Slovakia the member of the Euroarea and why not the Czech Republic? Advantages and disadvantages of euro adoption in Slovakia will be the basis for the argumentation of the acceptance or rejection of the euro in the Czech Republic. The purpose of the thesis is to demonstrate the Czech readiness to adopt the euro from a purely economic point of view, even though this is a political decision. The adopted methods will be analysis and comparison of macroeconomic indicators, called the magic rectangle (GDP, inflation, balance of payments, unemployment rate). The thesis will evaluate the progress of these indicators in the key periods of the republics. These periods had an impact on the state of both economies and led to euro adoption in Slovakia and the postponement of euro adoption in the Czech Republic indefinitely (separation of both republics, preparations and entry into the European Union, preparations for euro adoption, the advent of financial crises, etc.). The main aim of this thesis is to answer the question "Why is Slovakia adopted the euro earlier than the Czech Republic?" and to confirm or to disprove hypothesis of Czech readiness to adopt the euro according to experience of Slovakia.

The diploma thesis compares euro adoption strategies of Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic. Theoretical part of the thesis assesses eurozone in terms of optimum currency area criteria, describes benefits and costs of eurozone membership and criteria of nominal and real convergence. Comparative part explores inter alia whether the compared countries have set euro adoption date, whether they fulfill the Maastricht criteria, what's the degree of their real convergence and what's their attitude to euro adoption in general and current European pacts.

Bibliographic citation POLYÁK, Oliver (2012). The impact of Euro Adoption on Competitiveness: The comparison of Czech Republic and Slovakia. Prague, 2012. 71 p. Master thesis (Mgr.) Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of Economic Studies. Master thesis supervisor prof. Ing. Oldřich Dědek, CSc. Abstract The present master's thesis is focused on the impact of introducing the common European currency on competitiveness of a country. There has been a lot written about the possible effects of euro adoption on economies of the first eurozone participants. The contribution of this thesis is that we explore the impact of euro introduction on competitiveness of Slovakia, in comparison to the Czech Republic which still uses its own national currency. Our findings suggest that most of the analyzed competitiveness indicators evolved largely in parallel in both countries. Positive trade effects brought about by the introduction of the euro are rather moderate - up to 5%. Slovak credit development was more favorable during the crisis, reflecting lower interest rates in eurozone. On the other hand, high contributions to European stabilization funds may hamper Slovak economic growth and negatively influence country's competitiveness in future. JEL Classification F14, F15 Keywords...

The main objective of this thesis was to map the logistics system coins and notes circulations in the Czech Republic and design a system of logistics activities in the exchange of cash money, when Czech Republic adopts the single European currency. The secondary aim was to describe the current currency exchange preparation and propose an optimization based on currency conversions in the past and in other states. The important was to get the information by structured interviews with technical staff Czech National Bank in Prague and with former director of the Czech National Bank in the Czech Budejovice. Based on the information was described distribution chain of cash money. Part of this thesis is devoted to the current issue of the introduction of the euro in the Czech Republic. The exchange of cash money is the most visible element of currency change. Also puts the greatest demands on the logistics management. Based on the information about the euro changeover in other states have been proposed recommendations for the Czech Republic.

The goal of this diploma thesis is to assess the suitability and readiness of the Slovak Republic to adopt a single European currency. In analyzing the costs and benefits relating to Slovakia?s accession to the EMU, this thesis is guided by the theory of the OCA. The thesis provides a survey of the OCA theory, attempts to measure some of the OCA indicators and calculate OCA index for Slovakia. The results suggest that Slovakia fulfils the necessary condition for joining the monetary union, i.e. it is relatively well aligned with the euro area. The diploma thesis concludes that Slovakia is relatively suitable and well-prepared to join the euro area in 2009.

This thesis concentrates on theoretical postulates of the Optimum Currency Area theory, mentiones preparedness of the Czech Republic in the area of Maastricht criteria, real convergence, alternative adjustment mechanisms, legislative a institucional preparedness, summarizes actual preparatory work and possible scenarios of the euro-adoption, describes opinions of public and entrepreneurs on euro, mentions experience of Slovenia and Slovakia with new currency and recapitulates the risks of procrastination in this area. Main objective is an analysis of the overall preparedness of the Czech Republic to adopt euro.

This master thesis is devoted to the empirical analysis of the economic benefits of EU membership. The analysis aims to investigate what is the impact of EU membership on growth of the real GDP (in constant prices), unemployment rate and inflation rate for 16 states entering EU after the year 1995 (analysed period of years is 1991-2014). The applied method for evaluation in the current work is econometric analysis of panel data. The first part of the thesis is devoted to the literature review. The second part is describing data and variables that will be used for analysis, development of these variables over the time and stationary testing. The third part is dedicated to the regression analysis and includes models for GDP growth, unemployment growth and inflation. The last part of this master thesis will sum up the results and findings of previous parts. The main source for the data used in this work is the statistical database of World Bank (2016).