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What does the international currency system really look like?

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  • Benjamin J. Cohen
  • Tabitha M. Benney

Abstract

There has been a lot of debate lately about the shape of the international currency system. Increasingly, we are told, the world is moving toward a multicurrency system with several poles, implying that the system is becoming more competitive. Polarity, however, is a notoriously crude measure of the level of competition in any kind of system, economic or political. If analysis is to be at all accurate, it should take into account not only the number of poles in a system but also the inequalities among them -an alternative approach encompassed by the concept of concentration. In this paper we make use of the concept of concentration to provide a more accurate picture of the competitive structure of the currency system today. When taking account of concentration as well as polarity, our results suggest that the competitive structure of the system is little changed over a period stretching back more than two decades.

Suggested Citation

  • Benjamin J. Cohen & Tabitha M. Benney, 2014. "What does the international currency system really look like?," Review of International Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(5), pages 1017-1041, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:rripxx:v:21:y:2014:i:5:p:1017-1041
    DOI: 10.1080/09692290.2013.830980
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Eswar S. Prasad & Lei Ye, 2011. "The renminbi’s role in the global monetary system," Proceedings, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, issue Nov, pages 127-197.
    2. Elias Papaioannou & Richard Portes, 2008. "The international role of the euro: a status report," European Economy - Economic Papers 2008 - 2015 317, Directorate General Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), European Commission.
    3. Eichengreen, Barry, 2012. "Exorbitant Privilege: The Rise and Fall of the Dollar," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199642472.
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    Cited by:

    1. Hyoung-kyu Chey & Geun-Young Kim & Dong Hyun Lee, 2016. "Who Are the First Users of a Newly-Emerging International Currency? A Demand-Side Study of Chinese Renminbi Internationalization," Working Papers 2016-19, Economic Research Institute, Bank of Korea.
    2. Olk, Christopher, 2024. "How much a dollar cost: Currency hierarchy as a driver of ecologically unequal exchange," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    3. Annina Kaltenbrunner & Photis Lysandrou, 2017. "The US Dollar's Continuing Hegemony as an International Currency: A Double-matrix Analysis," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 48(4), pages 663-691, July.
    4. Stefan Angrick, 2018. "Structural conditions for currency internationalization: international finance and the survival constraint," Review of International Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(5), pages 699-725, September.
    5. Marina Zucker‐Marques & Pedro Perfeito da Silva, 2022. "The Role of Institutions: A Cross‐country Analysis of Renminbi Trading in Foreign Exchange Markets," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 30(3), pages 42-74, May.
    6. Winecoff William Kindred, 2015. "Structural power and the global financial crisis: a network analytical approach," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 17(3), pages 495-525, October.
    7. Daniel McDowell, 2019. "The (Ineffective) Financial Statecraft of China's Bilateral Swap Agreements," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 50(1), pages 122-143, January.
    8. Ponsot, Jean-François, 2016. "The “four I's” of the international monetary system and the international role of the euro," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 299-308.
    9. Hyoung-kyu Chey & Yu Wai Vic Li, 2016. "Bringing the Central Bank into the Study of Currency Internationalization: Monetary Policy, Independence, and Internationalization," GRIPS Discussion Papers 15-23, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies.

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