Traditional specifications of export equations incorporate foreign demand as a demand pull factor and the real exchange rate as a relative price variable. However, such standard export equations have failed to explain the export performance of euro area countries during the crisis period. In...

According to the traditional 'optimum currency area' approach, the case for adopting a common currency is stronger if the countries are subject to relatively similar output shocks. This Paper takes a different approach and highlights the fact that high exchange rate volatility may as well signal...