Dollarization hinders financial intermediation in domestic currency which is detrimental for economic growth and development. A broad branch of the financial dollarization literature is based on portfolio theory. Dollarization of savings portfolios is the result of optimal mean-variance...

The coexistence of cash and digital currencies constitutes a system of parallel currencies. This paper tackles the question whether a new (digital) currency is essential: Does a new currency allow for a better resource allocation even if a fully accepted currency is in circulation and still...

Over 85% of all foreign exchange (FX) transactions involve the US dollar. I show that the US dollar dominates FX trading volume because of strategic avoidance of price impact. To demonstrate this, I leverage the fact that non-dollar currency pairs can be traded indirectly by using the US dollar...

We document a decline in the dollar share of international reserves since the turn of the century. This decline reflects active portfolio diversification by central bank reserve managers; it is not a byproduct of changes in exchange rates and interest rates, of reserve accumulation by a small...

Recent literature has highlighted that international trade is mostly priced in a few key vehicle currencies and is increasingly dominated by intermediate goods and global value chains (GVCs). Taking these features into account, this paper reexamines the relationship between monetary policy,...

Notwithstanding announcements of progress, "international original sin" (the denomination of external debt in foreign currency) remains a persistent phenomenon in emerging markets. Although some middle-income countries have succeeded in developing markets in local-currency sovereign debt and...

The purpose of this study is demonstrating why entrepreneurs should monitor the broad dollar index. This paper explains the reason why the broad dollar index has become a risk (leverage) gauge since 2008 using the Covered Interest Parity (CIP). CIP can be viewed as a reflection of the shadow...

Purpose This paper analyses the possibility of Latin America's (LA) major economies adopting dollarization, considering that in the last decade macroeconomic instability has once again challenged the ability of certain economies to properly manage their own currency. Design/methodology/approach...

Unilateral euroization by developing economies is underexplored even in comparison to unilateral dollarization (taken to mean the adoption of the US dollar as legal tender). This paper attempts to help fill this gap in the literature by investigating the case of Montenegro, which is one of the...

The paper deals with the challenges stemming from the phenomenon of unofficial euroization in the Republic of North Macedonia. It tries to identify the main drivers of the households' deposit euroization in the Republic of North Macedonia and contributes to the literature by providing an...

Milton Friedman's longstanding advocacy in favor of floating exchange rates has contributed to a mistaken belief that he opposed currency board regimes or outright dollarization. Nothing could be further from the truth. Over a period of almost five decades Friedman consistently made it clear...

This paper analyzes the short-term impact of the lockdown policies implemented to stop the spread of the COVID-19 on the Ecuadorian financial system. We use a regression discontinuity in time (RDiT) design jointly with official data. Results show an overall decrease in total deposits (-3.4%) as...

In this paper we highlight a new channel through which dollar fluctuations can become a self-fulfilling pro-cyclical force. We call this mechanism "Imperial Circle" as it makes the dollar the dominant macroeconomic variable in the context of the current international monetary system. At the core...

This article shows that the United States Dollar has been unconstitutional since at least the Civil War. Congresses and central bankers often weaken its value. In a previous article, I demonstrated that the largely valueless Dollar causes human poverty and environmental damage. If Congress...

We isolate a U.S. dollar currency premium by comparing corporate bonds issued in the dollar and the euro by firms o utside t he U .S. a nd e uro a rea. We make s everal empirical observations that dissect the perceived advantage of borrowing in the dollar. First, while the dollar dominates...

Undesirable real effects have been attributed to floating exchange rates in general, and the 1980-83 appreciation of the dollar in particular.In the appreciating country, the U.S., export industries lose competitiveness and so output falls. In the other country, say Europe, the exchange rate...

We study investor trading behaviour and yield patterns in the UK government bond market during the recent Covid crisis. We show that the yield spike in mid-March 2020 was accompanied by heavy selling of gilts by UK-based insurance companies and pension funds (ICPFs), which we argue was an...

We study the aggregate and re-distributive effects of currency devaluations in a small open economy heterogeneous households model with leverage-constrained banks. Our framework captures three stylized facts about liability dollarization in emerging economies: i) banks and firms borrow in...

Rafael Correa’s presidency in Ecuador (2007 – 2017) exemplifies left-leaning populist regimes in Latin America. However, there is a key difference: Ecuador is a dollarized economy. This removes the possibility of fiscal dominance over monetary policy as is common in populist regimes. This...

We use a Capital Asset Price Model (CAPM) model to derive the formula of user cost for foreign monetary asset whose rates of return are subject to foreign exchange risk premia. Our formula shows that only domestic non-monetary asset can be used as the benchmark asset. In fact, under...

The growing heft of institutional investors and asset managers in several Asian economies hasfuelled expansion in outward portfolio investment, mainly in US dollar-denominated assets. Thisinvestment is predominantly in long-term instruments but is hedged for currency risk mainlythrough...

The paper examines possible monetary policy strategies for Latin America that may help lock-in the gains in the fight against inflation attained by the region during the 1990s. We start by calling for a refocus of the debate about the conduct of monetary policy away from thinking that it is...

In this paper I discuss in what way, if any, the collapse of Argentina's experience with a currency board has affected the policy debate on the appropriate exchange rate regime in emerging and transition countries. More specifically, I deal with three issues: (1) I discuss some important aspects...

Borrowing in foreign currency has historically induced a large currency mismatch on emerging economies' balance sheets, leading to financial instability and economic crises. Nonetheless, emerging market sovereigns still borrow a substantial amount in foreign currency. In fact, in this paper, we...

In this paper we analyze the macroeconomic record of 'strictly dollarized' economies. In particular we investigate whether dollarized countries have historically exhibited faster growth and lower volatility than countries with a domestic currency. We analyze this issue by using a treatment...

In the second half of the 19th century, the Chilean free banking system worked similarly to how Adam Smith describes the 18th century free banking system in Scotland. The characteristics of free banking that Smith identifies as conductive of successful outcomes—free entry, unlimited liability,...

The purpose of this study is demonstrating why entrepreneurs should monitor the broad dollar index. This paper explains the reason why the broad dollar index has become a risk (leverage) gauge since 2008 using the Covered Interest Parity (CIP). CIP can be viewed as a reflection of the shadow...

The need for US dollar funding during the financial stresses in mid-March 2020, as the COVID pandemic news shocked markets, was evident in a number of countries. Notably, however, China’s dollar liquidity needs received little attention. Given China’s deepening economic and financial...

This paper discusses the role of sterilized foreign exchange (FX) interventions as a monetary policy instrument for emerging market economies in response to external shocks. We develop a model for a commodity-exporting small open economy in which FX intervention is considered as a balance sheet...

In March 2020, the Federal Reserve eased the terms on its standing swap lines in collaboration with other central banks, reactivated temporary swap agreements, and then introduced the new Foreign and International Monetary Authorities (FIMA) Repo Facility. We provide new evidence on how the...

There has been an increasing wave of globalization since the turn of the millennium. This study focuses on two by-products of globalization: dollarization and tourism. Empirical studies have ignored the possible relationship between dollarization and tourism. However, we hypothesize that a...

The scholarly debate on currency internationalization focuses on country characteristics and policies as the main determinants in currency competition. However, this literature has neglected the fact that, given the intertwined nature of the international monetary system, other countries'...

Despite the progress made on the empirical front, normative analyses are still lacking when it comes to foreign currency intermediation (partial dollarization of the domestic banking system) and the ways to address its systemic risks implications. In this paper, we make a comprehensive analysis...