Some key criteria in the optimal currency area literature are that countries should join a currency union if they have closer international trade links and more symmetric business cycles. However, both criteria are endogenous. Frankel and Rose (1998) find that trade intensity increases cycle...

Veto player theory argues that a higher number of veto players lowers the likelihood of change; in turn, policies that do not change help to sustain commitments but may prevent adaptation to changing circumstances. This paper challenges that claim of veto player theory by arguing that policy...

In this paper detailed information on the budget institutions of Latin American countries is collected. These institutions are classified on a hierarchical/collegial scale, as a function of the existence of constraints on the deficit and voting rules.

The role of regional integration agreements as a determinant of the location of FDI has become an increasingly relevant issue for emerging economies. In Latin America, the largest effects are likely to be associated with the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). In this regard, there are a...

(Disponible en idioma inglés únicamente) Aunque la región sigue estando altamente centralizada, la tendencia hacia la descentralización es bastante fuerte. No sólo se está ejecutando una parte mayor de los presupuestos oficiales generales desde el nivel subnacional, sino que la autonomía...

This paper considers whether institutional factors, in this instance electoral systems and procedures, affect Latin American countries` fiscal performance as measured by the size of the public sector, fiscal deficits, the size of the public debt, and the degree of procyclality of fiscal policy....

This paper presents a rational political budget cycle model for an open economy, in which devaluations are delayed in the pre-election period so as to increase the electoral chances of the party in office. By concentrating on closed economies, previous political cycle models had overlooked the...

(Disponible en idioma inglés únicamente) El papel de los acuerdos de integración regional como factor determinante de la ubicación de la inversión extranjera directa (IED) se ha ido convirtiendo en un problema cada vez más importante para las economías en desarrollo. En América Latina,...

(Disponible en idioma inglés únicamente) En este trabajo se analizan los efectos de los acuerdos de integración regional en el destino de la inversión extranjera directa, empleándose para ello datos del volumen de inversión extranjera bilateral directa tomados de las Estadísticas sobre...

Countries that are classified as having floating exchange rate systems (or very wide bands) show strikingly different patterns of behavior. They hold very different levels of international reserves and allow very different volatilities in the movements of the exchange rate relative to the...