Is East Asia Moving toward a More Suitable Common Currency Zone? : Recent Changes in OCA Indices of East Asia

Abstract

Economists have different opinions on the suitability of East Asian monetary unification. It might be true that East Asian economies are not yet ready for monetary integration like EU

however, since East Asian region is dynamically changing with industrial development in some East Asian regions, rising China and etc, the discussion of E.A common currency should be more seriously considered. By checking OCA index of East Asian countries, this paper aimed to see

1) whether East Asian economies are moving toward a more suitable common currency zone from 2000 to 2010

2) if there is any change of what common external peg should be in the last 11 years

3) whether it is suitable to include Australia and New Zealand into East Asian common currency zone. Since East Asian region is very actively changing and lots of efforts for economic cooperation going on in this region, constant study on the suitability of common currency in East Asia is needed. In this sense, this paper finds its importance, as it is one of constant study on East Asian monetary integration with the most recent data.