Objective: The objective of the article is to determine which exchange rate regime provides higher bilateral trade: fixed rate or currency union. Research Design & Methods: An index was designed based on variables commonly recognised as those that might affect the value of bilateral trade and...

Between 1999 and the onset of the economic crisis in 2008 real exchange rates in Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain appreciated relative to the rest of the euro area. This divergence in competitiveness was reflected in the emergence of current account imbalances. Given that exchange rate...