The impact of digitization on the trajectory of a local currency: The Eusko in the French Basque Country

EasyChair Preprint 1407

Abstract

Launched in January 2013, the Eusko (complementary local currency of the Northern Basque Country in France) became the first local currency in Europe five years later, with the equivalent of more than one million euros in circulation. The introduction of digital payment in March 2017 allowed a rapid acceleration of the spread of the eusko surpassing the Chiemgauer in Germany and the Bristol Pound in England.

This paper aims to trace the main stages of the development of this complementary local currency and to formulate hypotheses about the factors for its success, placing the digitization in a broader interpretative context. Part 1 focuses on the different phases of the eusko’s trajectory. It describes the local context of its emergence and the core values on which the eusko is based. Using statistical data, it analyzes the distribution of this currency in its chronological and spatial dimensions. Part 2 aims to discuss different hypotheses, which can explain the rapid and exceptional success of this currency. In addition to specifying the importance of the territorial context, which is characterized by a high density of the associative and cooperative movements, it presents the Euskal Moneta's organizational model, and details the specific role of the eusko digitization.

Keyphrases: Basque Country, COMPLEMENTARY LOCAL CURRENCY, Digitization, EUSKO, France

@booklet{EasyChair:1407,
  author    = {Xebax Christy and Dante Edme-Sanjuro and Mathilde Fois-Duclerc and Yannick Lung and Julien Milanesi and Fabienne Pinos and Nicolas Piriou and Txomin Poveda},
  title     = {The impact of digitization on the trajectory of a local currency: The Eusko in the French Basque Country},
  howpublished = {EasyChair Preprint 1407},
  year      = {EasyChair, 2019}}