the forgotten dimensions. · 2012-08-31 · lucia mazzuca and roberto ranucci 2 investigating the...
TRANSCRIPT
1
XXVI Convegno Sisp
Università degli studi Roma Tre, Roma
13-15 settembre 2012
The Forgotten Dimensions.
The Euro in Scientific and Policy Literature1
Lucia Mazzuca and Roberto Ranucci2
Investigating the non-economic side of the euro
Since before its introduction, the euro, the European Union common currency and the
only one for the 17 member states currently participating in the EMU, has been and is,
today more than ever, the focus of an intense debate in which different voices and
varied positions are interwoven. The considerable attention paid to the euro is related to
the evidence (or the failure) of the European project on the single currency, but
essentially considered from a macro-economic perspective: the lion’s share in the
debate is played, indeed, by the sizeable amount of analysis, studies, statements about
the economic and financial implications that the adoption of the euro has led to and will
lead to for the member states, the EU and at wider international context levels. As
observed in the Introduction (see Moro 2012b), a similar level of attention is found with
greater difficulty, when going beyond the purely macro-economic dimension and, thus,
observing the single currency from a political, cultural, everyday life economy and
social standpoint.
In the scientific discourse, the lack of a systematic investigation of the single
currency, and more generally, of money’s non economic aspects has been highlighted
by diverse, though not numerous, authors (e.g. Helleiner and Gilbert 1999; Moro 2012b;
Zelizer 1989). As the latter noted, sociologists produced various empirical settings on
the symbolic and social meanings of money but only in an ad hoc, non-systematic way,
money being “confined primarily to the economists intellectual domain” (Zelizer 1989,
343)3. Following in the same vein, Helleiner and Gilbert posed the need to examine
money “not just as an economic phenomenon, but also in terms of its geographical,
political, social and cultural dynamics” (1999, 1-2), shedding light on the fact that
“while economists have often been wary of examining the non economic dimensions of
money, scholars outside economics have often steered their attention away from the
study of money” (ibidem, xiii).
Referring to Moro’s conceptualization (2012b) on the reasons explaining such
little attention towards the “other” meanings of money, it could be assumed that in the
case of the euro, the knowledge gap on the non-economic dimensions of the coin,
reflected and, reasonably, affected the scant thematization on the relationship between
the single currency and the building process of European citizenship, found both on the
1 Forthcoming publication in: Moro, Giovanni ed. The Single Currency and European Citizenship.
Unveiling The Other Side of The Coin. London & New York: Continuum 2 FONDACA, Active Citizenship Foundation, Rome
3It could be significant to mention that, at the time of the above cited study, Zelizer found that the
International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences devoted over 30 pages to money but not one to its
social features.
2
part of the scientific and policy communities, thus embodying the paradox described by
the author.
From a cognitive point of view, it could be maintained that such a paradoxical
blackout has clouded the role of the “other side of the coin’s dimensions” in the broader
understanding of a phenomenon – the birth and use of a single supranational currency -
that in the words of Fishman (Fishman and Messina 2006, 2) “stands as a watershed
event posing important questions and confronting long-cherished theories and
assumptions with a wealth of new evidence”, to which the sole economic approach
would result as not being sufficient to give account.
In order to increase the knowledge about how and, more specifically, to what
extent the non-economic aspects related to the single currency have been taken into
consideration in the academic and in the policy discourse as well, as part of the program
“The Other Side of The Coin. The Single Currency and European Citizenship”, between
2010 and 20114 FONDACA carried out a documentary research aimed at mapping the
existing academic and policy thematizations about the “forgotten dimensions” of the
single currency, identified with the political, cultural, everyday life economy and social
factors connected to its introduction and use.
After a brief description of the research features, the chapter will focus on the
quantitative and qualitative findings emerging from it, and conclude with some
proposals regarding further lines of investigation for the future.
The implementation of the research5
The research aimed at investigating the level of knowledge about the features
characterizing the relationship linking the euro to the building of European citizenship,
as considered and thematized in the existing literature, both theoretical and empirical,
and in the policy programs, already implemented or to be defined.
To this end, the research activities consisted of the gathering of various kinds of
documents (books, research papers, newspaper articles, communication materials,
official acts, etc.) produced from different sources (see later), which were useful in:
• Identifying and analyzing the extent to which the cultural, everyday life
economy, political and social dimensions are considered in the public and
academic discourse;
• Shedding light on the main non-economic themes addressed in the debate on the
single currency;
• Creating an online database in which the collected material has been categorized
and systematized.
Two main steps were followed to carry out the survey:
1. Gathering of the documentation produced by the sources illustrated in Table 5.1
(see later), and of that detected through the survey on Google search engine;
2. Analysis and categorization of the collected documents.
As for the first step, the sources selected for the gathering of the documentation refer to
various subjects involved in the broad process of introducing the single currency,
playing different roles:
4The research’s operations started in August 2010 and concluded in September 2011.
5We recommend the consultation of the research report “The other side of the coin: a framework
research” (Mazzuca and Ranucci 2012), available on www.fondaca.org, for a more detailed analysis on
the methodology utilized to conduct the research.
3
a. Institutions (specifically national governments and EU
institutions);
b. Banks (in detail: European Central Bank, national central banks
and private banks);
c. Consumers’ organizations;
d. The media;
e. The scientific community;
f. Think tanks.
The research operations were carried out on the websites6 of some specified sources
linked to the subjects presented above, excluding those that were not in English7, as
shown in Table 1.
SUBJECTS SOURCES
a. Institutions
- National Governments • Governments’ websites of the 12
Member States introducing the
euro in 2002
• UK Government website
• Slovenia Government website
- EU Institutions • European Commission
o Presidency website
o DG EcFin website
o Public Opinion website
• European Council site
• European Parliament site
• Economic and Social Committee
site
• Committee of the Regions site
b. Banks
- European Central Bank • ECB website
- Central Banks • Websites of CBs belonging to the
country adopting the euro in 2002
• Bank of England
• Bank of Slovenia
- Private Banks • Websites of the top 10 private banks
in Europe
c. Consumers’ organizations • ANEC’s website
• BEUC’s website
• Website of organizations active in
the Countries introducing the euro in
2002
d. Media • Press Europe
• Internazionale
6The key tools utilized were the search engines found in each website, if present. In such cases, the main
strings entered were: “single currency European citizenship”; “euro European citizenship”; “EU
currency”; “single European currency”. This operation was carried out on Google search engine, utilizing
it as a further source of documentation by consulting the first 40 pages of results for each of the above
presented strings. 7Except for Italian websites and documentation.
4
e. Scientific community • Google Scholar search engine
• European Commission’s Central
Library’s website
f. European Think Tanks • Think Tank Directory Europe’s list
Table 1 - Subjects and sources utilized in the research
In order to define the boundaries of the universe of the available documentation, the
time criteria used to drive the collecting activities differed depending on the actor
considered, as shown by Table 2.
Subjects Reference time
Media • 2001-2003
• September 2008- September
2011
Institutions
Scientific community
Think tanks
Banks
Consumers’
organizations
• 1990-2011
Table 2 - Time criteria used in the research
Concerning the second step, it should be primarily observed that among the documents
and materials (hereinafter items) gathered through the research activities, those dealing
with the euro mainly from a macro-economic or finance perspective were not included
in the universe on which the analysis and categorization activities were conducted.
Indeed, such inclusion was performed through the reading of the item’s title and/or
abstract/synthesis, if available, verifying the presence of at least one or more references
to “other side of the coin” dimensions.
Such dimensions were utilized as the classification criteria of the items composing
the universe, operationally conceived as specified below (see Moro 2012b):
• Cultural Dimension: the set of values, representations and cultural patterns that
are referred to by the currency as a repository of symbols.
• Social Dimension: the set of interactions, representations, institutions and
communication and exchange relations that give place to a social environment
which people using the single currency live in and belong to.
• Everyday life economy Dimension: the place in which the single currency acts
as a unit of measurement, exchange tool and stock value giving rise to a market.
• Political Dimension: the place where the single currency acts as a vector for the
political community-building process.
The research operations led to add a further category focused on the general aspects
concerning the context and developments of the euro project (mainly referred to the
EMU and euro history and legal framework, to the changeover and to the design of the
coins and banknotes), since they have been quite often taken into account in dealing
with the other side of the coins’ dimensions.
5
The item’s classification8 was functional to “weigh” the presence, or rather, the
diffusion of the attention towards each dimension in the policy and academic discourse
involving the subjects considered in the research, by counting the number of
occurrences found in the documentation composing the study’s universe. In the
framework of the research, the term occurrence was adopted meaning the presence, in
the required item, of a more or less specific reference to one or more dimensions,
among those explored by the present survey.
Finally, an Index of the Depth for the Other Side of the Coin’s Dimensions9 was
calculated, in order to elaborate more specific data on the level of attention registered
for each of the dimensions, as the object of discussion specifically in:
• books;
• journal articles;
• scientific papers;
• research reports.
Since the counting of the occurrences did not take into account the “weight” of the
different types of items found through the research, the elaboration of such an Index
allowed us, instead, to measure the extent to which each dimension was handled in an
in-depth and detailed way, by considering the above mentioned categories.
Main results
The universe of the identified items
The research operations led to a universe of 302 items, referring to the bibliographical
categories illustrated in Table 3:
Bibliographical categories No. of
items
Percentage
Books 15 4.96%
Book's Chapter 2 0.66%
Online (Newspaper) Articles 33 10.92%
Scientific Papers 70 23.17%
Reasearch Reports 16 5.29%
Eurobarometer's Reports 47 15.56%
Commentaries 3 0.99%
Policy Documents 4 1.32%
Speeches 24 7.94%
Interviews 4 1.32%
8The systematization of the documentations was realized through the creation of an ad hoc online
database (the € - Database) in which each item has been classified taking into account the dimension/s to
which it referred to. It is available online at: www.theothersideofthecoin.eu 9 For the methodology utilized to build the Index see Mazzuca and Ranucci 2012
6
Press Releases 4 1.32%
Booklets 15 4.96%
Periodical Articles 21 6.95%
Official Acts 17 5.62%
Scientific Journal Articles 22 7.28%
Conference Workshop’s Reports 2 0.66%
Other (ppt presentations and newsletter) 3 0.99%
Total 302 100,00%
Table 3 - The universe of the identified items
Looking at the composition of the universe of the identified items, what first catches the
eye is that it is made up of much more “grey literature” - mainly constituted by the 70
scientific papers and the 22 scientific journal articles - than of books (15 in total). Such
data could be interpreted as a predictable indicator showing that the “other dimensions”
of the European single currency do not already lie on consolidated knowledge, this still
being “under construction”.
Moreover, official acts cover a small share of the total number of items (just 17,
little over 5%): such data could be read as a signal of the fact that the strategy of the
public institutions was definitely not focused on the euro's hidden dimensions.
Nevertheless, the significant share of Eurobarometer reports focused on the issues
covered by the present survey (47 in total, more than the 15% of the universe) sheds
light on the European Commission’s interest in investigating the citizens’ opinions
about the non-economic aspects related to the introduction and use of the new currency.
Furthermore, a fairly significant share of items is seen to be related to media
documentation (online and periodical articles), covering around 18% of the universe.
Almost a third of the total items identified (102 out of 302) have been produced
by institutions, 79 by the scientific community, 52 by the media, 36 by banks10
, 20 by
European think tanks and 10 by consumers’ organisations. 3 items have been produced
by other subjects (see Figure 1):
10The research’s operations carried out on the private banks’ websites included in the sample did not
produce any relevant results concerning the 4 dimensions. Only one item produced by a private bank,
resulting from the survey carried out on Google search engine, was included in the universe, being
therefore the “banks” subject predominantly constituted by national central banks and the ECB.
7
102
79
52
36
20
10 3
Institutions
Scientific Community
Media
Banks
Think Tanks
Consumers' Organisations
Other
Figure 1- No. of items produced by each subject (universe: 302 items)
In general, what primarily emerges is the relatively low number of consumers’
associations’ and think tanks’ items, if considered in light of their field of interest,
which is assumed to be largely focused on the non financial aspects derived from the
introduction of the single currency.
An opposite consideration could arise taking into account the significant number
of items (36) detected for banks: such data could testify to an unexpected interest, more
or less explicit, in the other dimensions of the euro, beyond their “natural” focus on
macro-economic and financial variables.
As for institutions and the scientific community, the research operations found
quite a large number of items (respectively 102 and 79), even though in the case of the
latter subject it could be expected to be much higher, thus further highlighting the
already cited “blackout” on the other meanings of the euro.
Finally, the data concerning the media (52 items found) could be read as being in
line with their focus on the general process of the introduction of the single currency,
considered from a broader perspective, including the related non-economic factors.
Concerning the items produced by institutions and banks Table 5.4 displays the
quite predictable interest in the other side of the euro by the European Commission and
the European Central Bank, two subjects which, for obvious reasons, are at the core of
the European project on the single currency.
Institution (no. of items) Bank (no. of items)
o European Commission (77)
o European Parliament (5)
o European Economic and Social
Committee (4)
o Committee of the Regions (3)
o European Council (1)
o English Government (1)
o Italian Government (4)
o European Central Bank (19)
o Bank of Italy (7)
o Bundesbank (3)
o Bank of Portugal (2)
o Bank of Austria (1)
o Bank of Luxembourg (1)
o Bank of Estonia (1)
o Bank of France (1)
8
o German Government (1)
o French Government (1)
o Italian Parliament (1)
o English Parliament (2)
o OECD (1)
o International Monetary Fund (1)
Total items: 102
o Union Bank of Switzerland (1)
Total items:36
Table 4 - No. of items detected by the sources linked to Institutions and Banks.
From items to occurrences
As previously mentioned, the items that make up the universe are those containing a
more or less explicit reference to the political, social, everyday life economy and
cultural aspects connected to the introduction and use of the euro. Given that each item
could make reference to one or more dimensions, Table 5 displays the total number of
occurrences (and the value in percentage) recorded for each of them, which could be
interpreted as an Index of the Diffusion of the Attention paid to the dimensions.
Referring to the definition given in the methodological section, within the framework of
this survey, “occurrence” means the presence, in the required item, of a more or less
specific reference to a certain dimension, among the four explored by the present
survey.
Dimension No. of occurrences in
the universe
Share of diffusion (% of
occurrences out of the
total)
Cultural
74
16.7
Social 87 19.6
Everyday life economy 114 25.7
Political 125 28.1
Context and development of
the Euro project
44 9.9
Total 444 100
Table 5 - Index of the Diffusion of the Attention to the Other Side of the Coin’s Dimensions
Leaving out the context and development of the euro project category, it appears clear
that the political dimension results as the most recurring, covering 28.1% of the total
occurrences, while the cultural one is the least present, in the extent of 16.7%. The
everyday life economy and the social dimensions cover, respectively, 25.7% and 19.6%
of the total occurrences.
An interesting datum is given by the ratio between the total number of the
occurrences and the number of items which make up the universe:
No.
Occurrences 444
Items 302
Ratio 1.47
Table 6 - The ratio of Occurrences/Items
9
This simple calculation highlights the tendency found in the policy and academic
literature to focus on one single dimension, thus linking the discourse on the non-
economic aspects of the euro to the analysis of the political, or cultural, or social or
everyday life economy aspects, considered separately.
Occurrences of Dimensions
In Table 7 the occurrences of dimensions are shown considering the subjects taken into
account in the research.
Table 7 - Occurrences of dimensions found for each subject considered in the research
Percentages values are in italics
The data presented above have been analysed by taking into account:
a. the subjects considered in the research. We analyzed in detail the percentage
of occurrences per dimension found in the specific documentation produced by
each subject (in other words, their “focus rate” on the four dimensions, plus the
category on the context and development of the euro project);
b. the dimensions, namely the level of diffusion of the attention towards the
single dimensions paid by those subjects.
a. Subject’s focus rate on the other side of the coin’s dimensions
Figures 2, 3, 4 and 5 display the focus rate on the other side of the euro’s dimensions
found for those subjects for which a higher number of occurrences was detected. They
are in the following order: institutions, scientific community, the media and banks.
Subject/
Dimension
Instituti
ons
Banks Media Scientific
Comm.
Think
Tanks
Consumer
s Org.
Other Total
Cultural 28 15.2
6 12.5
8 12.3
30 28.3
2 7.7
0 0
0 74
Social 48
25.9
4
8.3
10
15.4
19
17.9
5
19.2
0
0
1 87
Everyday
life economy
46
24.9
17
35.4
17
26.1
18
17
5
19.2
10
100
1 114
Political 38 20.5
14 29.1
28 43.1
30 28.3
14 53.9
0 0
1 125
Context and
developmen
t
25
13.5
7
14.6
2
3.1
9
8.5
0
0
0
0
1 44
Total 185 100
48 100
65 100
106 100
26 100
10 100
4 444
10
Institutions
13.5
20.5
24.9
25.9
15.2
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Cultural
Social
Everyday life economy
Political
Context and development
Dim
ensio
n
Occurrences (%)
Figure 2 - Institutions’ focus rate on the other side of the euro’s dimensions
185 total occurrences found for institutions
The occurrence analysis (calculated as a percentage of the total occurrences found in the
items produced by each subject) brings up some general considerations: despite their
underlying connection with political issues, institutions focused their attention on the
social and the everyday life economy dimensions which together cover more than half
(50.8%) of the occurrences counted in the items produced by this subject - to a greater
extent with respect to the political one, which covers 20.5%. Without drawing any
general implications, such data suggests that institutions were significantly interested in
the impact of the single currency’s introduction into citizens’ lives, as, for example, the
fairly high number of Eurobarometer reports focused on euro attitude can testify.
Scientific Community
17
28.3
17.9
28.3
8.5
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Cultural
Social
Everyday life economy
Political
Context and development
Dim
en
sio
n
Occurrences (%)
Figure 3 - The scientific community’s focus rate on the other side of the euro’s dimensions
11
106 total occurrences found for the scientific community
Almost 60% of the occurrences found for the scientific community concerned the
cultural and political dimensions, which registered the same percentage (see Figure 3).
If a greater attention could have been expected to a certain extent for the first one, it is
nevertheless meaningful to note that the academic debate aimed at exploring the
consumers’ issue related to the introduction of the single currency registers to an extent
which could be considered beyond what may be expected (covering the everyday life
economy dimension 17% of the total occurrences, a percentage close to that pertaining
to the social dimension).
Media
12.3
15.4
26.1
43.1
3.1
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Cultural
Social
Everyday life economy
Political
Context and development
Dim
ensio
n
Occurrences (%)
Figure 4 - The media’s focus rate on the other side of the euro’s dimensions
65 total occurrences found for the media
In the case of the media, the findings highlight a significant interest in the political
dimension (which is present in almost half of their documentation), while the everyday
life economy has been dealt with to a lower extent (26.1%) than might have been
expected, considering the media’s “natural” target: the citizenry. In any case, it could be
assumed that their focalization on the political roots and implications of the European
project on the single currency, allowed the general public to build up a greater
consciousness about such a dimension.
12
Banks
14.6
29.1
35.4
8.3
12.5
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Cultural
Social
Everyday life economy
Political
Context and development
Dim
ensio
n
Occurrences (%)
Figure 5 - Banks’ focus rate on the other side of the euro’s dimension
48 total occurrences found for central banks
As could be expected, banks focused most of their attention on the everyday life
economy aspects of the euro, which covers 35.4% of the total occurrences found in the
documentation produced by this subject. Similar to the media’s case, a less obvious
result is connected to their significant interest in the political meanings of the
introduction of the single currency (almost 1/3 of the total occurrences). Such data could
be associated with the key role that central bank subjects have played during the whole
period preceding and subsequent to the formalization and entry into circulation of the
new currency, which led them to face questions related to their legitimacy and their
positions in the democratic architecture of the European Union, as well as the more
political meaning of issuing the single currency.
Predictably, the occurrences found for consumers’ organizations (10) all referred
to the everyday life economy dimension, while those counted for think tanks (26 in
total) concerned the political dimension in more than half of the cases.
b. The level of diffusion of the attention towards the other side of the coin’s dimensions
In this second part of our analysis, the findings will be treated focusing on the level of
diffusion of the attention paid to each of the 4 dimensions covered by the research, also
including the context and development of the euro project’s category.
Figure 6 displays the degree of diffusion of the attention paid to the cultural
dimension. It can be easily noted that the scientific community and institutions are the
subjects that focused the most on the cultural aspects related to the introduction of the
euro, having produced, respectively, 40.5% and 37.8% of the total occurrences found
for the dimension in question.
13
Cultural Dimension
0
2.7
40.5
10.8
8.1
37.8
Institutions Banks Media Scientific Community Think Tanks Consumers'
Organizations
Occure
nces (%
)
Figure 6: The level of diffusion of the attention towards the cultural dimension
74 occurrences in total regarding the cultural dimension
On the other hand, consumers’ organizations and think tanks seem to ascribe none or
very few meanings referring to the cultural sphere to the euro’s discourse.
As for the everyday life economy dimension, institutions show a remarkably high
interest in analysing the impact of the introduction of the single currency on consumers,
covering 40.4% of the total occurrences detected for such a dimension.
Everyday life economy Dimension
8.8
4.4
15.814.914.9
40.4
Institutions Banks Media Scientific Community Think Tanks Consumers'
Organizations
Occurr
ences (%
)
Figure 7 - The level of diffusion of the attention towards the everyday life economy dimension 114 occurrences in total regarding the everyday life economy dimension
It could even be added that given the direct (and quite evident) correlation between the
birth of the euro and the dimension in question, a higher level of thematization on the
14
latter would have been expected by the media and consumers organizations11
, but in
particular by banks12
. Moreover, it seems appropriate to note that the very significant
attention paid to the everyday life economy dimension by institutions, did not
completely avoid the gap between perceived and real inflation, registered after the
introduction of the single currency (see Moro 2011).
Concerning the social aspects related to the introduction of the euro, if the 87
occurrences counted could be in line with the not clearly evident topics related to it, a
less non-obvious data concerns the high level of attention paid by institutions, which
produced more than half of the total occurrences found for the dimension in question, if
compared with the quantity produced by the scientific community (21.8%), which could
be considered below the expected.
Social Dimension
0
5.7
21.8
11.5
4.6
55.2
Institutions Banks Media Scientific Community Think Tanks Consumers'
Organizations
Occurr
ences (%
)
Figure 8 - The level of diffusion of the attention towards the social dimension 87 occurrences in total regarding the social dimension
The level of diffusion of the attention towards the political dimension registered
relevant data considering institutions, which produced 30.4% of the total occurrences
found for the dimension in question, as well as the scientific community13
and the
media, which produced 24% and 22.4% respectively.
11It should be mentioned, however, that the data on consumers’ organizations is also connected to the
disparity of the number of items found for this subject with respect to the others. 12
It is useful to remember that the “banks” subject predominantly referred to national central banks and
the ECB (only one private bank is included in this category). 13
The data pertaining to the scientific community could be considered in line with the specific focus on
institutions and society in Brussels found in the research on the European Union (see Moro 2012a).
15
Political Dimension
24
0
11.2
22.4
11.2
30.4
Institutions Banks Media Scientific Community Think Tanks Consumers'
Organizations
Occu
rren
ces (
%)
Figure 9 - The level of diffusion of the attention towards the political dimension
125 occurrences in total regarding the political dimension
Also in this case, consumers’ organizations come out as not being focused on the
political issues implied in the process of introduction of the single currency, while think
tanks and central banks considered these aspects in significant percentages (in both
cases the 11.2% of the total occurrences), even if they are not so high.
Finally, concerning the general aspects related to the context and development of
the euro’s project it could be found that institutions paid great attention to such topics,
covering 56.8% of the occurrences found for this dimension. Specifically considering
European institutions this data could be read, to a certain extent, as an indicator of the
presence of a European policy mainly addressing issues related to the euro changeover.
16
Context and development of the euro project
4
0 0
20.5
15.9
56.8
Institutions Banks Media Scientific Community Think Tanks Consumers'
Organizations
Occurr
ences (%
)
Figure 10: The level of diffusion of the attention towards the context and development of the euro
project’s aspects 44 occurrences in total regarding the context and development of the euro project’s aspects
In this case, think tanks and consumers’ organizations prove not to be concerned with
these aspects, while central banks and the scientific community show a significant
interest towards them, covering respectively 15.9% and 20.5% of the total occurrences.
The Index of Depth for the Other Side of the Coin’s Dimensions
The data analysed in the previous paragraph, obtained through the counting of
occurrences, provide information about “the extent” to which each of them has been
taken into account – in other words their diffusion - in the policy and academic
discourse. In order to have more detailed information on the level of thematization and
the going into depth registered for the single dimensions, we have elaborated an Index
of Depth for the Other Side of the Coin’s Dimensions, which aims at measuring the
degree of going into depth with which the dimensions have been treated. The
components chosen for elaborating the Index are in this order: books, journal articles,
scientific papers and research reports, assuming that these categories are associated
with a broader and more in-depth thematization on the dimension or dimensions treated.
The Index score has been calculated by assigning different coefficients depending on
the component considered, and taking into account the related number of items
produced for each dimension14
.
14See Mazzuca and Ranucci 2012.
17
Dimension Books Journal
Articles
Scientific
Papers
Research
Reports
INDEX
Political
25
7.7
6
0.1
38.8
Cultural 6 3.0 9.2 0 18.2
Everyday life
economy
2.1 3.0 8.8 3.6 17.5
Social 1.4 4.0 3.6 0.1 9.1
Context and
development
6 0.3 1.6 0.05 7.95
Table 5.8 - Index of Depth for the Other Side of the Coin’s dimensions
Books- Score: min 0 max 37.5
Journal articles- Score: min 0 max 22
Scientific papers- Score: min 0 max 56
Research reports -Score: min 0 max 4.8
Index- Score: min 0 max 120.3
Even though not directly comparable, the results emerging from the Index of Depth and
the Index of Diffusion (see Table 9, and also Figure 11) allow for some general
considerations about the attention paid to the other side of coin’s dimensions.
Dimension Share of
Diffusion
Index of Depth
Political
28.1
38.8
Cultural 16.7 18.2
Everyday life economy 25.7 17.5
Social 19.6 9.1
Context and
development
9.9 7.95
Table 5.9 - Shares of Diffusion and Index of Depth to the other side of the coin’s dimensions
If the high score calculated for the political dimension (38.8) reflects the broad
presence of such a dimension found in the bibliographical material covered by the
research, it could further testify to a significant level of knowledge about the political
factors implied in the introduction of the single currency, which is so much higher
compared to the other dimensions. In general, it could be assumed that the creation of
the new currency as the result of a political plan, as well as a major step in the EU
institution-building process, have been the clearest and most deeply discussed factors in
the public and academic debate since the formalization of the Maastricht Treaty in 1992,
thus implying the fairly large interest shown by institutions, the scientific community
and the media.
18
38,8
28.1
18.2
16.7
17.5
25.7
9.1
19.6
7.95
9.9
Index of Depth
Index of Diffusion
Political Cultural Everyday life economy Social Context and development
Figure 11 - Diffusion and depth levels of the other side of the coin’s dimension
A divergence between the general and specific level of attention (114 total occurrences
compared to the 17.5 Index of Depth’s score) to the everyday life economy dimension,
is apparent (Figure 5.11). In general, the research findings suggest that the impact of the
introduction of the euro on consumers’ pockets constituted one of the most tangible
aspects towards which it was possible to direct multiple studies, recommendations and
comments (thus explaining the large interest in such an issue detected for institutions,
especially the European Commission), even though such knowledge has not been
translated into a more comprehensive understanding of the dimension, it being confined
to ad-hoc studies mainly produced by central banks.
As for the social dimension, the not very large percentage of diffusion (19.6% of
occurrences out of the total) is accompanied by the lowest score (9.1) related to the level
of depth towards the 4 dimensions, as simply highlighted by the score concerning the
books (1.4), the lowest compared also to that pertaining to the context and
development’s category. What has emerged could imply a rather “short-sighted”
knowledge about the social aspects implied in the creation and use of the single
currency, which have mostly been dealt with in the European Commission’s
Eurobarometer reports on public attitudes towards the euro. As already observed, the
low level of attention registered by the Index could be, in part, associated with the
absence of a more comprehensive discussion developed by the scientific community.
Despite the lowest percentage of diffusion (16.7%) compared to that pertaining to
the other dimensions, the cultural dimension registered a significant level of going into
depth (18.2), being the matter second most profoundly dealt, according to the Index of
Depth. This divergence is, in some respects, opposite if compared to that found for the
everyday life economy dimension: the emphasis and relevance attributed to the euro as
vector of identity and symbolic meanings have been not associated with a large share of
bibliographical material, even though we could assume that they have been object of a
more in-depth and structured analysis focused on the cultural issues implied in the use
of the single currency.
19
The emerging themes
Bearing in mind that the research activities did not envisage an in-depth analysis of the
content of each item composing the universe, in this paragraph the main themes
emerging from the reading of the title and of the documents’ abstract or synthesis
(where present) will be presented taking into account the dimension they referred to, on
the basis of the definitions given in the methodological section .
As for the Cultural Dimension, the research’s operations highlighted the following
topics:
• the euro’s role in shaping the European and national identities;
• coins as visceral emblems of the national identity;
• studies on the euro’s impact on national and European identities;
• the euro as a symbol of European identity;
• the euro as having no influence in making citizens feel more European;
• the attachment to the national currencies.
The topics related to the Social Dimension were:
• the euro as a means of communication, assimilated into the language;
• the existence of social mechanisms that enabled the creation of the EMU;
• the support of the single currency;
• the trust in the euro;
• the euro coins flow/diffusion in European countries;
As for the Everyday life economy Dimension, the main themes addressed were:
• the relation between the perceived and real inflation after the introduction of the
single currency;
• the difficulties in using euro banknotes and coins;
• research papers and studies on price monitoring;
• implications of the euro changeover for consumers;
• the memory of prices;
• advantages and benefits for consumers;
Concerning the Political Dimension:
• the political reasons and implications of the UK’s opting out;
• correlation between the adoption of the euro and the European integration
process;
• the euro seen from the “others’” (USA, China, India etc.) perspective;
• the political choices for the single currency project;
• political implications of abandoning the euro;
• the currency without a state;
• the international role of the euro;
• the euro’s function in highlighting the importance to rethink and reinforce the
EU governance structure;
• the euro seen from the countries’ perspective which are going to adopt it.
Moreover, the results emerging from this operation shed light on 5 topics which can be
ascribed to more than one dimension. They are:
• the correlation between the support of the euro and the identity policies in
Europe � cultural and social dimensions;
20
• citizens’ level of knowledge of the euro � social and everyday life economy
dimensions;
• the advantages for tourists after the introduction of the euro � social and
everyday life economy dimensions;
• the “euro natives” � social and cultural dimensions;
• the relation between rising prices and the support of the euro � everyday life
economy and social dimensions.
In sum, the above findings presented suggest that each dimension emerges with its own
cluster of topics but, at the same time, as phenomenon linked by more or less strong and
evident relations to the others (as the five themes just cited, could testify).
From this point of view, we could assume that the other side of the coin is
characterized by a “fluid nature”: dimensions are not intended to be categories with
clear and sharp boundaries, since they could be enriched with new topics arising from
the public and academic debate, as well as possibly referring to issues “contained” in
one or more of them.
Conclusive remarks
In light of the findings emerging from the survey, but not forgetting its nature and
limits, it is possible, by the end, to focus on what has been done in this field of research
and what, from our point of view, could be sought in the future to broaden the
knowledge about the other side of the coin.
The present research has shown that many of the analyzed subjects focused their
attention not just on their “natural” field of interest concerning the euro: the banks have
produced documents on the political dimension, the scientific community on the
everyday life economy aspects, the institutions on the cultural connections to the
introduction of the euro.
This can be interpreted as a signal of the interest created by “the other side of the
coin”.
Nevertheless, as we have seen, the universe of identified documents was made up much
more of “grey literature”, that indicates a lack of consolidation of the knowledge of the
“other dimensions” and it is also clear that none of the subjects identified at all the
dimensions as components of an “other side” of the euro, to be considered as
complementary to its macro-economic aspects.
As a consequence, concentrating our attention on the single dimensions, we can
conclude trying to suggest some further lines of research for the future:
• the significant level of attention about the political factors implied in the
introduction of the single currency demonstrates a consciousness of the close
linkage with the EU institution-building process. The euro can be considered
to be the most powerful symbol of the Europe unification experiment; a
political plan with its own characteristics and procedures, that has no
Parliament at the centre of the mechanism but does have economic
institutions and financial regulations. Therefore, we think that it could be
interesting to implement further investigations into the level of trust of
European citizens of the European Central Bank and its strategies about
monetary policies. This line of research could make the citizens’ support of
the system of governance of the euro much clear;
• as far as the cultural dimension is concerned, and in particular the role of the
euro as identity marker, we suggest the implementation of further analysis of
21
the different types of identity that the introduction of the single currency
created inside Europe as a whole. It is clear that European citizens belonging
to the Eurozone have developed a stronger sense of European identity with
respect to non Eurozone citizens (i.e. English, Danish, Swedish people). This
is the cultural aspect of the “two-speed Europe” created by the euro, into
which it would be interesting to produce deeper investigations. And why not
extend this analysis to those countries in line as candidates to belong to the
Eurozone in the near future? Are we in the presence of a “three-speed”
Europe?
• During the research phase, we were surprised not to have found detailed
analysis about the variation in European citizens’ travelling around the
Eurozone, specifically as a result of the introduction of the single currency.
It would be interesting, from our point of view, to further the knowledge on
how the possibility to move from one Eurozone country to another without
any exchange costs have increased or not, and how much people travel
within Eurozone boundaries (not considering other contextual factors, e.g.
low cost flights);
• As for the everyday life economy dimension, we suggest focusing attention
on the differences of the consumption styles between the citizens belonging
to the Eurozone member countries and those citizens who do not. This would
be very interesting especially in light of the economic crisis, in order to
clarify what kind of impact the euro has in the reduction of consumptions.
To conclude, we suggest focusing future public opinion polls on those particular types
of European citizens who were born close to the introduction of the single currency.
These “euro-native” citizens have only ever had the euro as their currency, so they have
experienced the “other side of the coin” in a different way compared to most European
citizens and, therefore, represent a meaningful standpoint on all the matters and
dimensions presented in the current research. Just to give an example, it would be very
interesting to carry out a poll on the euro-exit on this particular sample of European
citizens, in order to make comparisons with Europeans who experienced their national
currency before the advent of the euro.
Bibliographical references
Berezin, Mabel. 2000. “The Euro is more than Money: Converting Currency,
Exchanging Identity, and Selling Citizenship in the Post-Maastricht Europe”. Center for
Society and Economy of Ufniversity of Michigan Business School Policy Newsletter.
Volume 1, Issue 1, Spring.
Del Giovane, Paolo, and Roberto Sabbatini. 2004. “L’introduzione dell’Euro e la
divergenza tra inflazione rilevata e percepita”. Temi di discussione 532, Banca d’Italia.
22
European Commission. 2010a. Standard Eurobarometer 72. Public Opinion in the
European Union. Brussels: European Commission.
European Commission. 2010b. Flash Eurobarometer 306. The euro area. Public attitudes
and perceptions. Brussels: European Commission
Fishman, Robert M., and Anthony Messina, eds. 2006. The Year of the Euro. The
Cultural, Social and Political Import of Europe’s Common Currency. Notre Dame,
Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press.
FONDACA. 2009. The single currency and European citizenship: an assessment, final
report,Rome.
http://www.fondaca.org/file/Governance/Ricerca/RicercheConcluse2010/the_other_side
_of_the_coin_report_finale.pdf
Helleiner, Eric, and Emily Gilbert, eds. 1999. Nation-State and Money: the Past,
Present and Future of National Currencies. New York: Routledge
Helleiner, Eric. 2001. “One Money, One People? Political Identity and the Euro”.
Trentu International Political Economy Centre Working Paper 01
Hymans, Jacques E.C. 2004. “The Changing Color of Money: European Currency
Iconography and Collective Identity”. European Journal of International Relations
10(1): 5-31.
Kaelberer, Matthias. 2007. “Trust in the Euro: Exploring the Governance of a Supra-
National Currency”. European Societies 9(4): 823-842.
Mazzuca, Lucia, and Roberto Ranucci. 2012. “The Other Side of the Coin: a framework
research”, research report, www.fondaca.org
Moro, Giovanni. 2011. La moneta della discordia. (in collaboration with Lucia
Mazzuca and Roberto Ranucci). Roma: Cooper Editore.
Moro, Giovanni. 2012a. Citizens in Europe. Civic Activism and the Community
Democratic Experiment. New York: Springer.
Moro, Giovanni, ed. 2012b. The Single Currency and European Citizenship. Unveiling
the Other Side of the Coin. London & New York: Continuum, forthcoming publication.
Vissol, Thierry. nd. The Euro: Outcome and Element of the European Identity, Yale
Center for International and Area Studies.
Vissol, Thierry, ed. 1999. The Euro: Consequences for the Consumer and the Citizen.
Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publisher.
Zelizer, Viviana A. 1989. “The Social Meaning of Money: Special Monies”. The
American Journal of Sociology 95(2): 342-377.