FABIO CANOVA*

SUMMARY
I study whether and how US shocks are transmitted to eight Latin American countries. US shocks are
identified using sign restrictions and treated as exogenous with respect to Latin American economies.
Posterior estimates for individual and average effects are constructed. US monetary shocks produce significant
fluctuations in Latin America, but real demand and supply shocks do not. Floaters and currency boarders
display similar output but different inflation and interest rate responses. The financial channel plays a
crucial role in the transmission. US disturbances explain important portions of the variability of Latin
American macrovariables, producing continental cyclical fluctuations and, in two episodes, destabilizing
nominal exchange rate effects. Policy implications are discussed. Copyright  2005 John Wiley & Sons,
Ltd.