The first of January 1999 marked the beginning of a macroeconomic
experi- ment without precedent in modern history. For the first time
eleven European countries agreed to abolish their local currencies in
favour of a single one, the Euro. Not surprisingly, the necessary
preparatory process has been accompa- nied by an intensive discussion
about the best way to manage the new Euro currency properly. To spur on
that discourse was the principal motivation for this thesis. The
introductory chapter attempts to bridge economic and econometric views
on money demand analysis. It should help to motivate estimation proce-
dures and to standardize interpretation techniques, hopefully initiating
further discussion in that direction. It intends to make the following
chapters more accessible. In this thesis I approach the general subject
in two principle ways. In chapter 3 I consider technical issues dealing
with time series with shifts in the mean. Two years ago, Helmut
Liitkepohl and Pentti Saikkonen asked me to join in on a related project
which became the cornerstone of this chapter. I have very much
appreciated the highly instructive collaboration with both these
scholars.