Dual equilibrium and growth cycle in Argentina

Argentina’s GDP growth cycle, tracing the high exchange rate volatility in 1970–2008, is discussed. Growth depends on foreign exchange availability. The country’s comparative advantage is in agriculture, but manufactured exports are grow faster. Two remarkably different PPP exchange rates coexist – one appropriate for agriculture and one for manufacturing – destabilising the market exchange rate. Thus, two unstable growth equilibria coexist generating GDP fluctuations. Currency devaluation sets the cycle’s ceiling and the end of devaluation sets the cycle’s floor. Chronic government deficits widen the cycle, harming institutions and decelerating growth. A land tax to finance rural investment would facilitate a high and stable exchange rate (AR$/US$) and convergence to the high growth equilibrium.     

Modelling real exchange rate effects on output performance in Latin America

This article empirically analyses real per capita GDP growth for six Latin American countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Mexico, Venezuela) in terms of real exchange rate depreciations, inflation and US interest rates, focussing on the role of the real exchange rate. We find evidence of nonlinearity in this relationship, which we capture through a smooth transition regression model. With the exception of Mexico, nonlinearity in economic growth is associated with changes in the real exchange rate, with depreciations leading to different relationships compared with appreciations. Regimes for Mexico are associated with the past growth rates, with effectively symmetric effects of real exchange rate changes. Although our results are in accord with other recent literature in that depreciations may have negative effects for growth, the asymmetries we uncover indicate that these effects depend on the conditioning state.     

Simultaneity between export and import flows and the Marshall–Lerner condition

This paper presents an analytical reformulation of the Marshall–Lerner condition under the assumption that the independence of the GDP from the exchange rate cannot be postulated in open economies in which the foreign trade flow/GDP ratio is high. This paper attempts to analyse how, in open economies in which the export and import flow/GDP ratio is very high, independence between the GDP and the exchange rate is not a plausible assumption, so the traditional version of the Marshall–Lerner condition is not sustained.     

The Role of the Business Cycle in Exchange Rate Pass-Through: The Case of Finland

In this paper we investigate whether exchange rate pass-through (ERPT) responds nonlinearly to economic activity along the business cycle. Using quarterly data spanning the period 1975:1 to 2011:1, we explore the existence of nonlinearities in ERPT to CPI inflation for the Finnish economy. Within a logistic smooth transition framework, our investigations reveal a strong regime-dependence of pass-through, depending positively on economic activity. Besides, point estimates indicate that the long-run pass-through coefficient is equal to 0.15 % (weakly significant) when GDP growth is below a threshold of 3 %. However, when the Finnish economy’s growth rate speeds up—above the threshold of 3 %—ERPT elasticity increases to 0.47 %. These results provide some useful guidance on how policymakers should act over different phases of the business cycle. More specifically, monetary policy should factor in the nonlinear mechanism of ERPT over the business cycle in order to prevent exchange rate movements from fueling a continuous inflationary process.

     

The extensive margin,sectoral shares,and international business cycles

Abstract This paper documents some previously neglected features of sectoral shares at business cycle frequencies in OECD economies. We find that the non‐traded output share is as volatile as aggregate GDP and for most countries is countercyclical. While the standard international real business cycle model has difficulty in accounting for these properties of the data, an extended model that allows for sectoral adjustment along both the intensive and the extensive margins does a much better job of replicating these statistics. The model also matches better the correlation between relative consumption growth and real exchange rate changes, a key measure of international risk‐sharing.     

LONG‐RUN DETERMINANTS OF JAPANESE EXPORTS TO CHINA AND THE UNITED STATES: A SECTORAL ANALYSIS

During the period 1971–2007, Japanese sectoral exports to China and the United States depended on real exchange rate fluctuations and external demand (GDP of the country of destination). This result holds for both geographical destinations and for all six sectors under investigation in this study: foods, textiles, metal products, chemicals, non‐metal products, and machinery and equipment. For both China and the United States and for almost all sectors, the real exchange rate fluctuations and GDP have had the expected effects. Real appreciation of the yen and greater uncertainty derived from increased exchange rate volatility have reduced Japanese exports.     

Current Accounts and Exchange Rates: A New Look at the Evidence

A small literature has developed exploring nonlinearities in exchange rate data. This paper studies bivariate statistical relationships between current accounts, exchange rates, and cross–country ratios of GDP. The analysis differs from previous empirical work on these issues in using nonparametric methods to allow for nonlinearities, in employing a minimum of statistical assumptions, and in focusing on a fundamental characterization of the data. The authors present new evidence on the connections between exchange rates, the current account, and GDP. While the evidence loosely supports some common beliefs about the data, it conflicts with some common theoretical models. Thus the results pose new challenges for theory.     

Expectations and the Black Market Premium

The purpose of this paper is to gain a better understanding of the black market premium—the percentage differential between the black market and the official exchange rate. Tests are used to see whether the black market premium responds to variations in expectations about the official exchange rate in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico. Expectations of devaluation do cause movements in the black market premium for Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico but this behavior is not observed for Colombia. Colombian economic agents seem less sensitive to expected returns. This perhaps explains the relatively flat black market premium series observed for Colombia.     

不同汇率制度下汇率传递时滞的实证分析——基于中国、日本、巴西、阿根廷四国数据

本文采用向量误差修正模型及脉冲响应函数,选取中国、日本、巴西和阿根廷作为样本,运用1996-2009年的季度数据,分别对四国的汇率传递时滞进行实证分析。研究表明:不同汇率制度下,汇率变动对国内物价水平的影响存在差异,汇率传递均存在时滞。固定汇率制度下,汇率传递效应的时滞更长;在相对浮动的汇率制度下,汇率传递的时滞相对较短。本文样本中,中国的汇率传递时滞最长,为18个月。因此,在人民币汇率制度改革过程中,确定汇率波动区间以及考察汇率政策效果时,需要考虑汇率波动对国内物价影响时滞的长短。同时,受我国外汇市场化程度的影响,货币当局应当合理引导汇率预期,以适应货币政策目标的需要。     

German Exchange Rate Exposure at DAX and Aggregate Levels, International Trade and the Role of Exchange Rate Adjustment Costs

Abstract. This article analyses value changes of German stock market companies in response to movements of the US dollar. The approach followed in this work extends the standard means of measuring exchange rate exposure in several ways, e.g. by using multifactor modelling instead of augmented Capital Asset Pricing Model, application of moving window panel regressions and orthogonalization of overall market risk vis-à-vis currency risk. A further innovation lies in testing the theoretical implications of exchange rate adjustment costs (hedging costs) for firm values and economic exposure. Based on time series and panel data of German Deutsche Aktien Xchange companies, Deutsche Mark/dollar rates and macroeconomic factors, we find a rather unstable, time-variant exposure of German stock market companies. Dollar sensitivity is positively affected by the ratio of exports/gross domestic product (GDP) and negatively affected by imports/GDP. Moreover, as expected from theoretical findings, firm values and exchange rate exposure are significantly reduced by adjustment costs depending on the distance of the exchange rate from the expected long-run mean.     

Has Australia's floating exchange rate regime been optimal?

This paper develops a straightforward theoretical framework for evaluating exchange rate regime choice for small economies. It proposes that a floating exchange rate minimises national income and employment variation when real macroeconomic shocks predominate, whereas a pegged exchange rate achieves this goal should monetary shocks predominate. It then shows econometrically that, in the case of Australia, a floating exchange rate best suited the economy for the period 1985 to 2010, because real shocks were more significant than monetary shocks. Moreover, consistent with the theory, further results showing that a stronger (weaker) exchange rate correlated with positive (negative) deviations from trend GDP affirm that a floating exchange rate regime was optimal for Australia over this time.     

Forecasting recessions using financial variables: the French case

In this article, we focus on the ability of two financial variables—the yield curve spread and the euro–US dollar exchange rate—to predict French recessions over the period 1979–2010. First, we propose a turning point chronology for the French business cycle based on a classical conception of economic cycles and a non-parametric dating algorithm applied to the real GDP series. Second, static and dynamic probit models are developed and estimated to produce the recession probabilities. In-sample results show that the dynamic specification performs better than the static one and, above all, that the exchange rate has a stronger predictive power than the yield curve. Out-of-sample results finally confirm the predominant role assigned to the exchange rate in predicting the latest recession occurred in 2008.     

Empirical study on the influence of RMB exchange rate misalignment on China’s export

Using data from 1978–2005, this paper estimates RMB equilibrium exchange rate and misalignment respectively, and uses Engle-Granger (E-G) two-step method, error correction model to analyze the influence of RMB exchange rate misalignment on China’s export. Because China is the economic transitional country with the character of dualistic economic structure, this paper introduces a control variant into the model which is the gap between agriculture and industry contribution to GDP. Conclusion shows that this model is more credible and stable. There is an obvious cointegration between China’s export and RMB exchange rate misalignment, real effective exchange rate, domestic GDP and foreign weighted average GDP. RMB exchange rate misalignment has an obvious negative influence on China’s export, but it has self-corrected dynamic mechanism. Then using binary Logit model, this paper concludes that the bigger RMB underestimated misalignment is, the bigger net export probability is, which is good for export. The bigger RMB overestimated misalignment is, the smaller net export probability is, which is bad for export.      

Do long-term interest rates drive GDP and inflation in small open economies? Evidence from Poland

This article investigates the impact of long-term interest rates on macroeconomic variables in a small open economy. It shows that the time-varying term premium stabilizes GDP without affecting significantly inflation volatility in Poland – a typical open economy with flexible exchange rate. This conclusion is drawn from an estimated dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model in which segmented asset markets and imperfect asset substitutability give rise to the time-varying term premium in the long-term interest rate. Furthermore, the impulse response analysis of the model reveals that the term premium stabilizes GDP when the small economy is hit by shocks that are absent in closed economy models (country risk premium and export preference) which points to the different impact of the term premium on relatively close (large) and open (small) economies.     

OMITTED VARIABLES, CONFIDENCE INTERVALS, AND THE PRODUCTIVITY OF EXCHANGE RATES

Abstract.  A new analytical technique, named 'Bi-Directional Reiterative Truncated Projected Least Squares' (BD-RTPLS), produces reduced form estimations and less than half the error of OLS when there are omitted variables that interact with included variables. This paper develops confidence intervals for BD-RTPLS and uses BD-RTPLS to estimate the relationship between the exchange rate (e) and gross domestic product (GDP) using annual data from 1984 to 2000 for 23 developing Asian and Pacific countries. BD-RTPLS produces estimates for the exchange rate multiplier ( d GDP/ d e) for these countries and shows how omitted variables affected these multipliers across countries and over time.     

人民币汇率变动对多国经济增长和产业结构影响的地缘经济分析

将全世界划分为10个国家(或地区),在全球经济一般均衡框架下,模拟并分析了不同汇率情景下各国和地区的经济增长和产业结构的变化。模拟结果显示:中国的GDP将于2035年超过美国;人民币升值会导致中国的GDP增速放缓,而对其他国家的GDP增长有促进作用;人民币贬值有利于中国GDP的增长,但不利于其他国家GDP的增长;人民币升值后,中国农业、轻工业和建筑业的比重下降,食品加工业、能源业、化学工业和重工业的比重上升,而印度和俄罗斯与中国在地缘经济上是竞争关系,欧美国家与中国在地缘经济上是合作关系,因此印度和俄罗斯的产业结构变化与中国大致相反,而欧美国家的产业结构变化趋势与中国类似。     

REAL PRODUCT AND PRICE COMPARISONS BETWEEN LATIN AMERICA AND THE REST OF THE WORLD

The purpose of this article is to add 12 Latin American countries to the Phase III of the United National International Comparisons Project (ICP). The data for Latin America was obtained through ECIEL. It has been demonstrated that the exchange rates do not usually reflect the relative purchasing power of currencies. When low-income countries are compared to higher income countries the exchange rate conversion tends to understate the relative income of the lower income countries. This is true for the total GDP and even more so for the GDP components. In per capita terms it is found that for low income countries their income is more than twice as great as is indicated by the exchange rate conversion.     

中国资本流动风险预警研究

借鉴FR早期风险预警模型的研究方法,建立适用于预测我国资本流动脆弱性风险的预警系统。我国从未发生过货币危机,在风险预警模型建立时,只能使用我国资本流动脆弱性的变化作为被解释变量。通过计量分析发现:外汇储备/GDP、外汇储备/M2、GDP增长率与我国资本流动脆弱性变化相关性最强,应当作为我国当前预防资本流动脆弱性恶化的重点检测指标。     

我国区域技术进步贡献率的测算及其影响因素研究——基于指数平滑和向量自回归模型的实证分析

运用柯布-道格拉斯生产函数和索洛经济增长速度方程测算我国区域技术进步在经济增长中的贡献率;运用三次指数平滑方法,提取我国技术进步贡献率和技术进步速度的趋势规律。结果显示:我国整体的技术进步贡献率呈现稳步上升的趋势,但区域间技术进步贡献率差异明显。通过分析技术进步速度与技术进步贡献率的关系,建立VAR模型,揭示了所有制结构、产业结构、研发投入、人力资本以及外商投资水平对技术进步以及对技术进步贡献率的影响。上述变量在区域间的差异,决定了技术进步贡献率呈现东高西低的特征。     

Crawling peg and the variability of the real exchange rate

This paper assesses the extent to which exchange rate policies of crawling?galloping peg in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay did contribute to the overall variability of their real exchange rates in the 1970's.