This paper looks at what would have been the impact of replacing the three European currencies by the Ecu in the SDR. The results suggest that SDR value would have been relatively unaffected by such a change, even in periods of instability on the foreign exchange markets.

In recent years a number of countries have introduced currency boards (CB). The new generation currency boards, which is gaining swing and popularity, preserves to different degrees the central bank's ability to perform the lender of last resort function (LOLR) and leaves room for intervention...