First Author:   Christophe Rault Université d'Orléans, LEO, CNRS, UMR 6221, France IZA, Germany and William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan, USA, chrault@hotmail.com   Université d'Orléans, LEO, CNRS, UMR 6221, Rue de Blois-B.P.6739 Orléans Cedex 2, 45067, France       http://membres.lycos.fr/chrault/ Second Author: António Afonso ISEG/TULisbon - Technical University of Lisbon, Department of Economics UECE antonio.afonso@ecb.int   European Central Bank, Directorate General Economics, Kaiserstraße 29, Frankfurt am Main, D-60311, Germany