A paper by Fendel and Frenkel (2009) explores, instead, the hypothesis that inflation differ-entials may have played a role in shaping the ECB’s monetary policy conduct in the last decade.Their main conclusion, based on the estimation of Taylor rules for the Eurozone, is that the ECBmay have taken a less restrictive stance aiming to avoid risks of deflation in member countriesexperiencing low inflation. It is worth noting, that if this conclusion is correct then the pro-cyclicaleffect induced by monetary policy choices in the high inflation countries is even stronger.In another relevant paper in this area of research, Angeloni and Ehrmann (2007) take a moreoptimistic stance in evaluating the role of monetary policy in the currency area. The authorsmaintain that the central bank, by keeping the whole area in a low inflation environment, alsohelps to reduce the inflation differentials.