Macroeconomic coordination and monetary unions in a N-country world: Do all roads lead to Rome?

Abstract

In Europe, twelve countries have joined a currency union but four have stayed out. The EU enlargement process implies a large set of potential EMU entrants. In Latin America, two countries have recently dollarized and regional currencies have also been a recurring theme. We develop a theoretical model in which countries are exposed to real and monetary shocks of both a systemic and individual nature. The model suggests when countries should float, form a CU or fix to an anchor as a function of their sensitivity to systemic shocks and the size of individual shocks. In an empirical analysis we consider a set of countries in Latin America. We find that what is beneficial for a given country depends on the actions of others. Integration may then be path dependent, and all roads may not lead to Rome.