Publication

This paper analyzes the trade gains arising from the constitution of a currency union for a set of economically large, developed nations who create a monetary union. The author examines the euro area in the period of 1980 to 2001 and finds no consistent significant trade effects from the creation of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) in 1999. Treating EMU as a part of a long-term integration process, the evidence seems to be stronger but it does not seem to be conditional on any single, specific exchange rate arrangement.