摘要：The Latin Monetary Union (LMU) agreement signed in December 1865 by France, Italy,Belgium and Switzerland standardised gold and silver coinage in member countries andallowed free circulation of national coins in the Union. In his seminal study, Flandreau (2000)found no evidence of an overall positive effect of the LMU on trade. In this paper, I estimate theeffects of this currency agreement on trade. In my gravity model I explicitly take into accountthe changing conditions in the international environment that affected the LMU’s underlyingeconomic foundations (i.e. the limits on silver coinage agreed upon in 1874) and its rules (i.e.the “liquidation clause” of 1885). I also test the existence of heterogeneous effects on bilateraltrade within the LMU. In line with Flandreau, I fi nd no signifi cant LMU trade effects. However,I fi nd support for the hypothesis that the LMU had signifi cant trade effects for the period1865-1874. These effects were nonetheless concentrated in trade fl ows between France andthe rest of the LMU members, following a hub-and-spokes structure. Moreover, I fi nd evidencefor the existence of an 1874 “LMU-wide” structural break, which affected the course of tradefl ows within the Union.
关键词：international trade; currency unions; Latin Monetary Union; gravity model;bimetallism.
