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Rethinking Optimal Currency Areas

Author

Listed:
  • Patrick Kehoe

    (Princeton University)

  • Alessandro Dovis

    (Penn State)

  • Varadarajan Chari

    (University of Minneapolis)

Abstract

The classic optimal currency area criterion is that countries with more correlated shocks are better candidates to form a union. We show that when countries have credibility problems this simple criterion must be changed: Symmetric countries gain credibility when joining the union only when the shocks affecting credibility are not highly correlated. Our analysis provides a amended optimal currency area criterion that we argue is more relevant than the classic one. We illustrate our argument both for a reduced form model and for a relatively standard sticky-price general equilibrium model. We argue that our new criterion should lead to a rethinking of the massive amount of empirical work on optimal currency areas.

Suggested Citation

  • Patrick Kehoe & Alessandro Dovis & Varadarajan Chari, 2014. "Rethinking Optimal Currency Areas," 2014 Meeting Papers 826, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    • Handle: RePEc:red:sed014:826
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    Cited by:

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    2. Louisa Grimm & Sven Steinkamp & Frank Westermann, 2021. "On Optimal Currency Areas and Common Cycles: Are the Acceding Countries Ready to Join the Euro?," CESifo Working Paper Series 9016, CESifo.
    3. Campos, Nauro F. & Macchiarelli, Corrado, 2021. "The dynamics of core and periphery in the European monetary union: A new approach," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    4. Cartapanis, André & Gagnon, Marie-Hélène & Gimet, Céline, 2023. "Financially sustainable optimal currency areas," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 58(PA).
    5. Gandjon Fankem, Gislain Stéphane & Fouda Mbesa, Lucien Cédric, 2023. "Business cycle synchronization and African monetary union: A wavelet analysis," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    6. Kai Arvai, 2021. "The Political Economy of Currency Unions," Working papers 850, Banque de France.
    7. Guo, Dong & Zhou, Peng, 2021. "The rise of a new anchor currency in RCEP? A tale of three currencies," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    8. Fujiwara, Ippei & Kam, Timothy & Sunakawa, Takeki, 2019. "Sustainable international monetary policy cooperation," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 1-1.
    9. Abramson, Boaz & Shayo, Moses, 2022. "International integration and social identity," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    10. Chari, V.V. & Pérez, Luis, 2022. "Comment on Iovino, La’O and Mascarenhas, “Optimal Monetary Policy and Disclosure with an Informationally-Constrained Central Banker”," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 173-181.
    11. Yuta Saito, 2022. "A Note on Time Inconsistency and Endogenous Exits from a Currency Union," Games, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-8, February.
    12. Zuzana Rowland & George Lazaroiu & Ivana Podhorská, 2020. "Use of Neural Networks to Accommodate Seasonal Fluctuations When Equalizing Time Series for the CZK/RMB Exchange Rate," Risks, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-21, December.
    13. Matthew Greenblatt, 2020. "Bailouts, Inflation, and Risk-Sharing in Monetary Unions," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 48(3), pages 269-296, September.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E60 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - General
    • E61 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Policy Objectives; Policy Designs and Consistency; Policy Coordination
    • G28 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • G33 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Bankruptcy; Liquidation

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