This paper uses a DSGE model to study the potential benefits and costs of joining a monetary union. We show that the potential benefits arise from two sources. First, it reduces the magnitude of shocks by eliminating shocks to the nominal exchange rate, which have been found to be very...

We build a small open-economy model with partial financial dollarization--households hold wealth in domestic currency and a foreign currency; firms also have a balance sheet mismatch as in Gertler, Gilchrist and Natalucci (2001). The degree of dollarization is endogenous to the extent of...