The Impact of the financial crisis on integration of bond markets in the European Union

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to evaluate the impact of the financial crisis on the integration of bond markets in the European Union (EU). The initial indicator is the average yield of medium-term government bonds in individual EU countries. Consequently, the 2005 – 2011 time period has been divided into two periods - before the financial crisis and during the financial crisis, and after the financial crisis. Furthermore, we have used the one-factor analysis of variance ANOVA and then compared the mean values in the indicated periods. In order for ANOVA to be carried out, first the assumptions of normality and homogeneity of variances of survey data have to be tested. Here we apply Shapiro-Wilk test for testing the normality and Bartlett's test for testing the homogeneity of variances. The result of the procedure is a statement that the integration of bond markets in the EU has been deepened, despite the financial crisis.