The paper starts with the assumption that the Mercosur countries have decided to pursue monetary integration. These countries have essentially two options: a decentralized monetary union (MU) whereby each member country either pegs to the U.S. dollar or dollarizes outright; or a centralized MU...

In this paper we study Finland’s way to the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and her economic development as a member of the EMU. First, we describe the economic background of the membership and the arguments presented in research and discussion for and against it. Then we describe...

This paper evaluates the arguments for regional monetary cooperation in East Asia. Unlike in Europe, which saw longstanding discussions on the costs and benefits of monetary unification, a proper debate is not yet underway in East Asia. Instead, the quot;classicalquot; European arguments for and...

This paper examines diverse aspects of the monetary integration of the ten new Member States (NMS) which joined the EU on 1 May 2004 into the euro area. Most NMS have undergone a rapid and deep transformation in all areas with considerable progress in their processes of reform and convergence,...

This paper examines patterns and factors underlying the international transmission of business cycles between Ireland and its trading partners over the period 1980-2007. We estimate a model of simultaneous equations using a panel of cross-country annual data where trade integration, sectoral...

Business cycle synchronization is an important condition for a currency union to be successful. Frankel and Rose (1998) showed empirically that increased trade would have a positive impact on business cycle correlation while acknowledging the theoretical ambiguity on the relationship. Based on...

This paper examines patterns and factors underlying the international transmission of business cycles between Ireland and its trading partners over the period 1980-2007. We estimate a model of simultaneous equations using a panel of cross–country annual data where trade integration, sectoral...

This paper assesses the strength of business cycle synchronization between 1950 and 2014 in a sample of 21 countries using a new quarterly dataset based on IMF archival data. Contrary to the common wisdom, we find that the globalization period is not associated with more output synchronization...

This paper assesses the strength of business cycle synchronization between 1950 and 2014 in a sample of 21 countries using a new quarterly dataset based on IMF archival data. Contrary to the common wisdom, we find that the globalization period is not associated with more output synchronization...

This paper tests for the hypothesis that institutional integration interacts with economic integration at the regional level. In particular, we ask what lessons can be drawn from the European experience with regional integration for Latin America. Several indicators of institutional and economic...