Brexit: An Exploratory Analysis of the Macroeconomic Effects on the British Economy

Authors

  • João Alves Bento
  • António Portugal Duarte

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47743/saeb-2020-0027

Keywords:

Brexit, United Kingdom, European Union, ARIMA, counterfactual

Abstract

This paper investigates the effects of the Brexit announcement on the British economy. For this, we use a counterfactual analysis methodology, predicting a set of macroeconomic variables of the British economy in a scenario where the Brexit announcement did not happen and measuring what drifted away from its effective value. To forecast the variables we use the ARIMA method. Our conclusions are that if Brexit had not been announced: i) the exchange rate of the Pound Sterling against the US Dollar would not have had such a sharp depreciation trend; ii) real wage growth would not have been as high after the referendum; iii) the growth rate of the consumer price index would not have had such a strong growth trend and iv) the Gross Domestic Product would have grown at a higher pace and after three years of Brexit announcement it would have been 3% higher.

JEL Codes - E17; F13; F15

References

Badinger, H., 2005. Growth effects of economic integration: Evidence from the EU Members States. Review of World Economics, 141(1), 50-78. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10290-005-0015-y

Baier, S. L., Bergstrand, J. H., Egger, P., and McLaughlin, P. A., 2008. Do economic integration agreements actually work? Issues in understanding the causes and consequences of the growth of regionalism. World Economy, 31(4), 461-497. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9701.2008.01092.x

BBC, 2018. Vote Leave's targeted Brexit ads released by Facebook. from https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-44966969

Campos, N. F., Coricelli, F., and Moretti, L., 2014. Economic Growth and Political Integration: Estimating the Benefits from Membership in the European Union Using the Synthetic Counterfactuals Method. IZA Discussion Paper, 8162, 1-37.

Crafts, N., 2016. The Growth Effects of EU Membership for the UK : Review of the evidence. Global Perspectives Series, 7.

Dhingra, S., Huang, H., Ottaviano, G., Pessoa, J. P., Sampson, T., and Van Reenen, J., 2017. The costs and benefits of leaving the EU: Trade effects. Economic Policy, 32(92), 651-705. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/epolic/eix015

Dustmann, C., and Frattini, T., 2014. The Fiscal Effects of Immigration to the UK. Economic Journal (London), 124(580), F593-643. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ecoj.12181

Felbermayr, G., and Fuest, C., 2017. Economic Effects of Brexit on the European Economy. European Network for Economic and Fiscal Policy Research, 1(4), 1-42.

Feyrer, J., 2011. Trade and Income: Exploiting Time Series in Geography. NBER Working Paper, w14910.

Gaskell, S., and Persson, M., 2010. Still out of control? Measuring eleven years of EU regulation: Open Europe.

Henrekson, M., Torstensson, J., and Torstensson, R., 1997. Growth effects of European integration. European Economic Review, 41(8), 1537-1557. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0014-2921(97)00063-9

Independent, 2018. Final Say: The misinformation that was told about Brexit during and after the referendum. from https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/final-say-brexit-referendum-lies-boris-johnson-leave-campaign-remain-a8466751.html

Kierzenkowski, R., Pain, N., Rusticelli, E., and Zwart, S., 2016. The Economic Consequences of Brexit - A Taxing Decision: OECD Economic Policy Papers.

Menon, A., and Salter, J. P., 2016. Brexit: Initial reflections. International Affairs, 92(6), 1297-1318. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1468-2346.12745

Migration Advisory Committee, 2011. Limits on Migration: Limits on Tier1 and Tier 2 for 2011/12 and Supporting Policies. London: The Stationery Office.

Nussair, S. A., 2003. Testing The Validity Of Purchasing Power Parity For Asian Countries During The Current Float. Journal of Economic Development, 28(2), 129-147.

Philippidis, G., and Hubbard, L. J., 2001. The Economic Cost of the CAP Revisited. Agricultural Economics, 25(2-3), 375-385. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1574-0862.2001.tb00216.x

Rivera-Batiz, L. A., and Romer, P. M., 1991. Economic Integration and Endogenous Growth. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 106(2), 531-555. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2937946

Standard & Poor's, 2019. Brexit: What Might Have Been For The U.K. Economy. https://www.spglobal.com/en/research-insights/articles/countdown-to-brexit-what-might-have-been-for-the-u-k-economy.

The Guardian, 2019. Boris Johnson: I'd rather be dead in ditch than agree Brexit extension. from https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/sep/05/boris-johnson-rather-be-dead-in-ditch-than-agree-brexit-extension

Washington Post, 2020. Boris Johnson threatens to walk away if Europe doesn’t meet his demands in trade talks.

Webb, D., Keep, M., Webb, D., and Keep, M., 2016. In brief : UK-EU economic relations. House of Commons Library Briefing Paper, 06091.

Downloads

Published

2020-12-24

How to Cite

Bento, J. A., & Duarte, A. P. (2020). Brexit: An Exploratory Analysis of the Macroeconomic Effects on the British Economy. Scientific Annals of Economics and Business, 67(Special Issue), 69–85. https://doi.org/10.47743/saeb-2020-0027