Dollarization and De-dollarization in Transitional Economies of Southeast Asia

This book sheds light on the dollarization trends of four transitional economies in Southeast Asia: Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Vietnam. Moving beyond the tendency to focus on the Latin American experience of dollarization and prolonged high inflation, the chapters in this book compare how payment dollarization has been more persistent than other types of dollarization in this region due to network externalities. The book illustrates that dollarization started in the underdeveloped financial system in these countries and that dollarization interacted with financial development, which is in contrast to dollarization in Latin America. This project extends the frontiers of empirical studies on dollarization. It will be of interest to students, researchers and policy makers concerned with dollarization and economics in Southeast Asia.

“This book explores the concepts of dollarization and de-dollarization in Cambodia ... With growing interest in the financial development of CLMV economies, this book proves to be an invaluable resource on the topic of dollarization in the region.” (Linda Low, Journal of Southeast Asian Economies, Vol. 35 (1), April, 2018)

Koji Kubo is Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization (IDE-JETRO), Japan.