A Currency of One's Own? An Empirical Investigation on Dollarization and Independent Currency Unions
In this paper we analyze whether common currency' countries that is, dollarized and independent currency union countries have outperformed countries that have a currency of their own. The paper is empirical and estimates jointly the probability of being a common currency country and outcome' equations for growth, volatility and inflation. We find that both type of common currency countries have lower inflation than countries with a domestic currency. Dollarized countries have lower growth and higher volatility than countries with a domestic currency. Currency unions, on the other hand, have higher growth and higher volatility than countries with a currency of their own.
Published Versions
Edwards, Sebastian and I. Igal Magendzo. "Strict Dollarization and Economic Performance: An Empirical Investigation," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, 2006, v38(1,Feb), 269-282.