Dollarization and Foreign Countries That Have Dollarized To the U.S. Dollar

Seminar paper from the year 2008 in the subject Economics - Finance, grade: 90, , course: International Trade Seminar, language: English, abstract: The purpose of this paper is to explore dollarization, specifically the type that involves the adoption of the U.S. Dollar as official currency by foreign nations. An overview of the definition of dollarization will be given along with an analysis of the motivation to dollarize and one economist¿s process of dollarization. Cases of countries that have officially dollarized to the U.S. Dollar will be identified and explored in detail. The pros and cons to these foreign countries will also be summarized and directions for future research will be given.

Dollarization is not a recent occurrence in the international community, but with the official adoption of the U.S. Dollar by several countries over the last decade, it has gained significant attention. Governments, international organizations such as the U.N., the World Bank, The International Monetary Fund, as well as economists and other scientists have all over the past ten years been paying far more attention than previously to dollarization.

First, a complete definition and brief history of dollarization will be presented followed by the motivating factors behind a nation¿s decision to dollarize. One economist¿s process for dollarization is also presented. Next, some Pros and Cons are summarized followed by an overview of the example nations that have dollarized will be given followed by the beginning of my focus on Latin America as a region apparently prone to dollarization and why.

The balance of the paper will be devoted to two case studies presenting in depth information about two Latin American countries that have officially adopted the U.S. Dollar, El Salvador, and Ecuador. Finally, directions for future research are presented.