Assessing Financial Vulnerability in Partial Dollarized Economies

The reduction of macroeconomic vulnerability in emerging markets is at the core of the research agenda. Liability dollarization plays a vital role and its implications have been addressed in the literature via a “financial accelerator” mechanism. If we asses vulnerability in terms of the evolution of investment, we claim that, in absence of an asset price channel, departures from a pure float will mitigate vulnerability and improve welfare. Conversely, with an active asset price channel a tighter exchange rate policy will have marginal effects on welfare and vulnerability when compared to that associated to a reduction in liability dollarization. Key words: Liability dollarization, financial vulnerability, fear of floating, monetary policy.