Optimum currency area. Is a fixed exchange rate regime more suitable than a flexible one?

Optimum currency area. Is a fixed exchange rate regime more suitable than a flexible one?
Author: Sofia Roth
Publisher: GRIN Verlag
Total Pages: 28
Release: 2018-06-04
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 3668717052

Seminar paper from the year 2011 in the subject Economics - Macro-economics, general, , language: English, abstract: This term paper outlines the theory of Optimum Currency Area (OCA), also known as an Optimal Currency Region (OCR). It also deals with the question under which conditions it is more suitable to have a fixed exchange rate regime or a flexible exchange rates regime in an OCA. The theory of OCA was developed in the early 1960s and deals with mixed, complicated issues of international macroeconomics and "emerged from the debate on the advantages and disadvantages of fixed versus flexible exchange rate regimes". Moreover the theory "attempts to answer the question under which circumstances it is beneficiary for a country or region to constitute a common currency area with other countries or region". This question was analyzed and contributed by the pioneered work of Mundell (1961). Other contributors at the beginning of this theory were McKinnon (1962) and Kenen (1969). Their cognition were based on founding’s by Friedman (1953) and Meade (1957).

Exchange Rate Regime Choice

Exchange Rate Regime Choice
Author: Mr.Robert P. Flood
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 9
Release: 1991-09-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1451851324

Traditionally the choice of exchange rate regime has been seen as a second-best policy choice, which can be directed toward mitigating the distortionary effects of price or information rigidities. In this paradigm the optimal degree of exchange rate flexibility is found to depend of the source and nature of shocks hitting an economy. More recent literature views the exchange rate as a widely and frequently seen manifestation of government policy with careful exchange-rate management emerging as a tool that can enhance shaky policy credibility.

No Single Currency Regime is Right for All Countries Or at All Times

No Single Currency Regime is Right for All Countries Or at All Times
Author: Jeffrey A. Frankel
Publisher: Princeton University International Finance Section, Department of Econmics
Total Pages: 48
Release: 1999
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

This essay considers some prescriptions that are currently popular regarding exchange rate regimes: a general movement toward floating, a general movement toward fixing, or a general movement toward either extreme and away from the middle. The whole spectrum from fixed to floating is covered (including basket pegs, crawling pegs, and bands), with special attention to currency boards and dollarization. One overall theme is that the appropriate exchange rate regime varies depending on the specific circumstances of the country in question (which includes the classic optimum currency area criteria, as well as some newer criteria related to credibility) and depending on the circumstances of the time period in question (which includes the problem of successful exit strategies). Latin American interest rates are seen to be more sensitive to US interest rates when the country has a loose dollar peg than when it has a tight peg. It is also argued that such relevant country characteristics as income correlations and openness can vary over time, and that the optimum currency area criterion is accordingly endogenous.

Evolution and Performance of Exchange Rate Regimes

Evolution and Performance of Exchange Rate Regimes
Author: Mr.Kenneth Rogoff
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 85
Release: 2003-12-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1451875843

Using recent advances in the classification of exchange rate regimes, this paper finds no support for the popular bipolar view that countries will tend over time to move to the polar extremes of free float or rigid peg. Rather, intermediate regimes have shown remarkable durability. The analysis suggests that as economies mature, the value of exchange rate flexibility rises. For countries at a relatively early stage of financial development and integration, fixed or relatively rigid regimes appear to offer some anti-inflation credibility gain without compromising growth objectives. As countries develop economically and institutionally, there appear to be considerable benefits to more flexible regimes. For developed countries that are not in a currency union, relatively flexible exchange rate regimes appear to offer higher growth without any cost in credibility.

Moving to a Flexible Exchange Rate

Moving to a Flexible Exchange Rate
Author: Mrs.Gilda Fernandez
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 29
Release: 2006-01-09
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1589064763

A growing number of countries are adopting flexible exchange rate regimes because flexibility offers more protection against external shocks and greater monetary independence. Other countries have made the transition under disorderly conditions, with the sharp depreciation of their currency during a crisis. Regardless of the reason for adopting a flexible exchange rate, a successful transition depends on the effective management of a number of institutional and operational issues. The authors of this Economic Issue describe the necessary ingredients for moving to a flexible regime, as well as the optimal pace and sequencing under different conditions.

Redefining Capitalism in Global Economic Development

Redefining Capitalism in Global Economic Development
Author: Kui-Wai Li
Publisher: Academic Press
Total Pages: 477
Release: 2017-06-07
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0128041978

Redefining Capitalism in Global Economic Development reconsiders capitalism by taking into account the unfolding forces of economic globalization, especially in Asian economies. It explores the economic implications and consequences of recent financial crises, terrorism, ultra-low interest rates that are decades-long, debt-prone countries and countries with large trade surpluses. The book illuminates these economic implications and consequences through a framework of capitalist ideologies and concepts, recognizing that Asia is redefining capitalism today. The author, Li, seeks not to describe why nations fail, but how the sustainability of capitalism can save the world. Merges capitalist theory with global events, as few books do Emphasizes ways to interpret capitalist ideas in light of current global affairs Reframes capitalism via economics, supported by insights from political science, sociology, international relations and peace studies

Optimum Currency Areas and the European Experience

Optimum Currency Areas and the European Experience
Author: Ronald McKinnon
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2004
Genre:
ISBN:

Across nations or regions, the debate on optimum exchange rate cum monetary policies is not yet resolved on three levels. First is the optimum domain of fixed exchange rates versus keeping them flexible. Second is the subordinate debate on whether one needs full monetary union (as in continental Europe) to secure an optimum currency area's internal domain; or, whether virtually fixed exchange rates - where national currencies remain in circulation - can be sufficient. Third is whether a regional grouping of economies with close trade ties (as in East Asia) gain by collectively pegging to an outside currency such as the US dollar. Using an axiomatic approach, which limits the set of cross-country financial claims to what is feasible, I analyse how best to both share and reduce macroeconomic risks on these three levels.

Too Sensational

Too Sensational
Author: W. Max Corden
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 292
Release: 2004-08-20
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780262262118

Most of the literature on exchange rate regimes has focused on the developed countries. Since the recent crises in emerging markets, however, attention has shifted to the choice of exchange rate regimes for developing countries, especially those that are more integrated into the world capital markets. In Too Sensational, W. Max Corden presents a systematic and accessible overview of the choice of exchange rate regimes. Reviewing many types of regimes, he shows how the choice of an exchange rate regime is related to both fiscal policy and trade policy. Building on the theory of optimum currency areas, Corden develops an analytic framework of three approaches (nominal anchor, real targets, and exchange rate stability) and three polar exchange rate regimes (absolutely fixed, pure floating, and fixed but adjustable). He considers all other regimes to be mixtures of two or three of the polar regimes. Beginning with theory and later turning to case studies of countries in Asia, Europe, and Latin America, Corden focuses on how economies react to negative and positive shocks under various exchange rate regimes. He examines in particular the Asian and Latin American currency crises of the 1990s. He concludes that although "too sensational" crises have discredited fixed but adjustable regimes, the extremes of absolutely fixed regimes or pure floating regimes need not be chosen.