Symmetry of External Shock responses within the Andean Community of Nations : A SVAR Approach

Abstract

This article studies the symmetry in reactions of the Andean Community of Nations (CAN) economies to external shocks in order to analyze the group's evolution towards economic integration. The undertaking of a Monetary Union project in South America enhances the usefulness of evaluating shocks within this region according to the Optimal Currency Area Theory. A Structural VAR model with non-recursive contemporaneous restrictions is built for each economy and a correlation analysis is performed. The results evidence that the CAN has evolved positively towards structural convergence.Latin American countries; Monetary Union; OCA Theory; Structural VAR