Exchange rate premia and discounts for retail purchases using Mexican pesos in El Paso, Texas

This paper studies the exchange rates at which Mexican pesos are accepted for retail purchases in El Paso, Texas. A stratified random sample of 586 participating firms is surveyed to examine two aspects of reverse dollarization in the El Paso/Ciudad Juárez border region. The first is to determine the percentage of retail businesses in El Paso that accept foreign currency in the form of Mexican pesos. The results suggest that just over 13.1% (77/586) of all retail firms in this market accept pesos, which on average, comprise 4.35% of total sales for those firms. The second is to calculate the effective exchange rate at which firms accept Mexican pesos. We find that 68.5% of firms accepting the peso do so at a premium. We discern these two aspects further utilizing various multivariate analyses.

► We study exchange rates at which Mexican pesos are accepted for retail purchases in El Paso, Texas. ► We find that 13.1% of all retail firms in this market accept pesos, comprising 4.35% of total sales. ► We further analyze firms accepting the peso at a premium.