The Endogeneity of the Optimum Currency Area Criteria

Abstract

A country's suitability for entry into a currency union depends on a number of economic conditions. These include, inter alia, the intensity of trade with other potential members of the currency union, and the extent to which domestic business cycles are correlated with those of the other countries. But international trade patterns and international business cycle correlations are endogenous, This paper develops and investigates the relationship between the two phenomena.