Do the ASEAN countries and Taiwan form a common currency area?

Common currency areas and Asian common currency areas in particular are highly topical and somewhat controversial areas for research. We explore the hypothesis that the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations meet necessary conditions for forming a common currency area and whether Taiwan appears a natural member of such an area. We test data on the ASEAN countries and Taiwan for consistency with a common currency area. We produce the first evidence that these five ASEAN countries and the ASEAN countries plus Taiwan meet the microeconomic criteria to form a common currency area. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.