Do the Drivers of Loan Dollarization Differ between CESEE and Latin America? A Meta-Analysis

In this paper we compare the determinants of loan dollarization in two emerging market regions, namely Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe (CESEE) and Latin America, through a meta-analysis of 32 studies that provide around 1,200 estimated coefficients for six drivers of foreign currency lending. As a common pattern, we find macroeconomic instability (as expressed by inflation volatility) and banks’ funding in foreign currency to play a significant role in explaining loan dollarization in both regions. In contrast, the interest rate differential appears to be a key determinant only in Latin America, while the positive impact of exchange rate volatility on dollarization implies a more prominent role for supply factors in the CESEE region. While the robustness of the results has been verified, our meta-analysis shows that estimates reported in the literature tend to be influenced by study characteristics such as the methodology applied and the data used.