Mundell-Fleming Criteria for Optimum Currency Areas: the Case of Slovakia

This paper tests the suitability of Slovakia to join the European Monetary Union based on the international factor (labour and capital) mobility. The analysis involves others optimum currency areas criteria and also others Central and Eastern European countries and European Monetary Union member states as well are included in the sample as a benchmark for a better comparison. The results do not fully confirm the hypothesis that Slovakia already constitutes an optimum monetary union with the rest of the EMU countries; mainly the labour mobility is largely ineffective as adjustment mechanism. But, Slovakia is a open country and its economic and production structures are quite similar to the euro average. This would indicate that Slovakia should not suffer from increased likelihood of asymmetric shocks and that it is a suitable member of the euro area.