The Argentine stabilization plan of December 20th

In this paper an analytical model is developed to incorporate the essential characteristics of the stabilization plan implemented in Argentina in January 1979. The model is based upon a set of simplifying assumptions that only approximate the complexity of the real world. It is assumed that the expectations of inflation and the degree of excess demand or supply in the non-traded goods market are the main intermediate determinants of the rate of inflation in that market, the rate of change of prices of traded goods being determined by the external inflation together with the rate of devaluation. Treating thus the external rate of inflation as exogenous, the only instrument available for influencing the rate of inflation in the long run is the rate of devaluation. Since the model assumes a fixed exchange rate regime, the money supply is endogenous and hence unsuitable as an instrument of economic policy.     

货物贸易与服务贸易:总量互补与差额替代关系

对相关主要国家货物贸易和服务贸易的数据分析表明,服务贸易和货物贸易总量上呈现出互补性特征,但是在各自差额上却呈现明显的替代性。本文研究认为,货物贸易和服务贸易差额的替代性体现了不同国家的比较优势所在。该结论的启示在于,服务部门发展和服务贸易发展是一个渐进的过程,而仅拥有劳动密集型制造业优势的发展中国家将可能长期存在服务贸易逆差。     

The Effect of Exchange Rate on Bilateral Trade Balance: New Evidence from Malaysia and Thailand

This paper attempts to identify the major economic factors that influence the bilateral trade balances of Malaysia and Thailand with the US and Japan. To this end, an unrestricted VAR model was estimated using quarterly frequency data from 1980: I to 1996: IV. The Johansen results indicate a stable long-run relation between trade and three macro variables: exchange rate, domestic income and foreign income. The main findings of this paper are: (i) the real effective exchange rate is an important variable in the trade balance equation and devaluation improves the trade balances of both economies in the long-run; (ii) the other important variables that determine trade balance include domestic and foreign incomes; (iii) the results indicate no J-curve effect and causal run from exchange rate to trade balance, (iv) the real effects of devaluation are distributed over a period of eight to nine quarters.     

Fiscal devaluations: evidence using bilateral trade balance data

We study the effects of fiscal devaluations on the trade balances of European Union countries over the 2000–2014 period using bilateral trade balance data. This enables us to control for the coincidence of tax policy measures in different countries, which is an aspect left unconsidered in previous econometric studies. A fiscal devaluation consisting of a budget-neutral tax shift in the amount of 1% of gross domestic product (GDP) from employers’ social security contributions to value added tax leads to a short-term improvement of bilateral trade balance ranging between 0.3 and 0.6% of GDP. An extrapolation of our baseline estimate to the overall trade balance yields an impact of 4.3% of GDP for the whole sample, which is slightly higher than presented in previous empirical research. Applying extrapolation to the trade deficit countries in the euro area shows that these countries’ balance of trade with the rest of the euro area improves by only 0.75% of GDP. Thus, the magnitude of the fiscal devaluation impact on the trade balance varies significantly across countries, depending on their trade openness, among other potentially relevant factors.     

The China money puzzle: will devaluation of the yuan help or hurt the Hong Kong dollar?

A Chinese yuan devaluation could affect the stability of the Hong Kong dollar. This paper studies two linkages. The first is that trade balance effect is studied through a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model. The result shows that the net change in Hong Kong's foreign reserve after a yuan devaluation is, in fact, negligible. The second is that psychological effect is studied by a survey of financial market participants. In spite of the small trade balance effect, all respondents believe that a yuan devaluation would lead to a panic selling of Hong Kong assets. Therefore, a yuan devaluation is bad for the Hong Kong dollar primarily through market psychology.     

世界经济周期的贸易传导机制

贸易究竟如何影响经济波动在世界范围内的传递?对这一问题的回答,必须结合与贸易有关的其他经济变量加以研究。实证研究证实了“贸易发展与经济周期的协动性具有正向关系”的结论,并且更深入地指出影响协动性的关键是贸易强度,而非受贸易模式影响的产业结构和贸易结构。在理论上,学者们在基础模型的基础上不断地加入了一些新元素,如不可贸易品、南北贸易模式等,试图对贸易传导机制进行更详细的描述,并力图解决两国模型中产生的“数量异常”和“价格异常”。     

Exchange rate shocks and the current account under monopolistic competition: An intertemporal optimization model

This paper examines the current-account effect of a devaluation in a Chamberlinian model where both saving and investment are based on intertemporal optimization. It shows that devaluation tends to deteriorate the current account along the time horizon, leading to a reduction of the stock of foreign assets permanently. In contrast to recent work, these real effects do not rely on short-run disequilibrium in the goods or labor market. Besides, a temporary devaluation may generate hysteresis effects on both micro- and macro-economic aspects of a small economy.     

Vertical trade and China's export dynamics

This paper examines how China's exports are affected by exchange rate shocks from countries that supply intermediate inputs to China. We build a simple small open economy model with intermediate goods trade to show that due to the intra-regional trade in intermediate goods, a devaluation of other Asian currencies does not necessarily hurt China's exports, as imported intermediate goods could become cheaper. The effect of intermediate goods costs depends critically on the share of intermediate goods used in China's export goods production and the degree of exchange rate pass-through in imported intermediate goods prices. If prices for intermediate goods are not very sticky, the effect through this channel could be large, and China's exports could even benefit. We find that these findings do not depend on China's choice of currency invoicing between the RMB and the US dollar or the choice between fixed and flexible exchange rate regimes.     

The insulation argument in neoclassical international economics: A critique

Conclusion In this paper I have tried to prove that the insulation argument for independent fiat currencies is flawed, both because of its lack of sound theoretical foundation, and because of its empirical irrelevance. We have seen that the confusion about essential monetary notions makes the case for monetary independence look intuitively appealing. However, the occurrence of asymmetric trade shocks cannot be a good reason in its favor, for such shocks are more an illusion due to an incomplete knowledge of economic history and to a weak understanding of the adjustment mechanism in a worldwide integrated economy. Moreover, regardless of the importance of such trade changes, devaluation cannot offset the need for relative prices and wages adjustment to match the impact of the change. And by the additional inflationary effects it entails, devaluation harms the structure of production and makes the adjustment even more difficult. Finally, we have seen that even if it is desirable to insulate a region against a foreign shock-when this shock is the manifestation of a boom—it is impossible to do it. The insulation idea should therefore be eliminated from the field of international monetary economics, together with the policies advocated on its behalf.     

The curse of Moctezuma: American silver and the Dutch disease

This study formalizes and empirically tests the conjecture that the discovery of large silver reserves in its American colonies during the 1540s triggered in Spain a case of Dutch disease, diverting factors of production to non-traded goods industries and undermining the Spanish comparative advantages in the Early Modern Age. I develop an open-economy model to mimic the economic conditions in Imperial Spain. I then present new consumption weights built from primary sources, which I combine with existing price data to produce price indexes for traded and non-traded goods; these are then used to test the implications of the model in a Markov-switching regression framework. I identify a strong and persistent increase in the relative price of non-traded goods coinciding with the silver discoveries, lasting for almost three decades and reversing itself only after the 1575 and 1579 crown bankruptcies.     

Rural-led exchange rate appreciation in China

The departure of a factor in excess supply in a non-traded rural sector leads to a Rural-led Exchange Rate Real Appreciation (RERA), in a dual economy setup. The RERA highlights for the first time a potential link between intra-national factor movements and real exchange rates. In China, where there is excess labor employed in the production of (largely) non-traded rural goods, we attribute around one third of the recent appreciation of the real exchange rate – defined as the relative price of nontradables – to a RERA effect.     

Monetary basis of trade imbalance

The purpose of this paper is to lay simple yet elegant, formal microeconomic foundations for the theory that monetary policy is a principal determinant of international trade imbalance. Foreign exchange is a different form of real liquidity, not a perfect substitute for domestic currency. As a result, foreign money is traded as a commodity in exchange for consumption goods. If the monetary policies of two countries differ, a permanently unbalanced flow of goods may arise. Specifically, this paper argues that a high-inflation regime is likely to induce a perpetual trade deficit.     

Exchange Rates and Trade Balance Adjustment: A Multi-Country Empirical Analysis

This study assesses the response of the trade balance to exchange rate fluctuations across a large number of countries. Fixed-effects regressions are estimated for three country groups (industrial, developing and emerging markets) on annual data for 87 countries from 1994 to 2010. The trade balance improves significantly after a real depreciation, and to a similar degree, in the long run for all countries, but the adjustment is significantly slower for industrial countries. Emerging markets and developing countries display relatively fast adjustment. Disaggregation into exports and imports shows that the delayed adjustment in industrial countries is almost entirely on the export side. The rate of adjustment in emerging markets is slowing over time, consistent with their eventual graduation to high-income status. The ratio of trade to GDP is also highly sensitive to the real effective exchange rate, with a real depreciation of 10 % raising the trade/GDP ratio across the sample by approximately 4 %. This result, which presumably reflects movements in the prices of tradables relative to non-tradables, raises questions about the widespread use of the trade/GDP ratio as a trade policy indicator, without adjustment for real exchange rate effects.     

人民币汇率、出口退税对加工贸易收支动态冲击的实证研究

2005年汇率改革后人民币迅速升值,而之后除2009年受金融危机影响外,中国加工贸易顺差不降反增;同时,出口退税迅速增加。为解释这一复杂现象,文章用VAR模型来实证汇率、出口退税、加工贸易需求对加工贸易收支的动态冲击效应。研究发现:对加工贸易收支贡献最大的是加工贸易需求,其次是出口退税和汇率;人民币贬值和出口退税增加短期内对加工贸易收支均有J-curve效应,出口退税增加短期内对加工贸易进口正向促进效应大于出口的正向促进效应,进而导致加工贸易收支恶化。结果表明:人民币升值对加工贸易收支改善作用有限,但会降低加工贸易进出口总额;加工贸易进口对出口退税的过度敏感,提示中国政府要防止出口退税骗税和出口商品香港一日游现象。     

本币名义汇率低于真实汇率是保持国际竞争力的有效手段

本文表达了如下想法:①名义汇率围绕真实汇率上下波动的调整,会促使一国国际收支恶化或者改善;②美元对人民币贬值并不一定能够满足马歇尔———勒纳条件和解决中美国际收支失衡问题,因为失衡问题主要是美国的国内因素以及限制对华技术出口与中国商品进口所引起的;③我国作为一个发展中国家,应该适度控制名义汇率,使其低于真实汇率,才能支持劳动力优势,保持国际收支顺差;④国际收支长期盈余,是我国经济增长和经济安全的保证。     

垄断竞争、产业内贸易与相对工资差距

本文首先运用理论模型推导出垄断竞争市场条件下产业内贸易与行业相对工资差距之间的关系。理论结果显示,当产品的产出技能替代弹性(高技术工人相对雇佣量的变化率/产出的变化率)为正时,产业内贸易将会扩大相对工资差距;当产品的产出技能替代弹性为负时,产业内贸易将会缩小相对工资差距。然后以中美工业制成品产业内贸易为例对该结论进行验证,计量检验结果表明,我国制成品的产出技能替代弹性为正,中美工业制成品产业内贸易扩大了相对工资差距。     

美元贬值对美国经常账户影响的估值效应分析

本文运用资产组合模型和协整计量方法,论证了美元汇率变化所带来的估值效应对美国经常账户调节的影响。分析结果表明,美元贬值引致的估值效应很小,再加上美元贬值可能使美国短期债务利率上升,这就很容易抵销掉贬值所带来的估值收益。因此,美国巨大的贸易赤字不可能通过美元贬值所带来的估值效应得以纠正。     

The Japanese–U.S. trade balance and the yen: Evidence from industry data

While it is often assumed that a country's trade balance will improve in the long-run if its currency is allowed to depreciate, this is not necessarily the case for specific goods. In the short run, the opposite might even take place, as fixed quantities and rising import prices cause the trade balance to deteriorate. In this paper, we apply cointegration methodology to assess the short- and long-run impact of fluctuations in the yen–dollar real exchange rate on Japan's trade balance with the U.S. for 117 industries. We find that depreciation causes the trade balance to improve in the long-run for about one-third of Japanese industries. Most short-run effects are in the same direction, indicating a quick improvement in these industries’ trade balance, rather than a period of deterioration such as a “J-curve.”     

美国量化宽松政策对亚太新兴市场国家的影响

量化宽松是美联储在通货紧缩下所采取的一种直接创造货币、扩大央行资产负债表规模的非传统货币政策。量化宽松将给我国等新兴市场国家造成较大的负面效果,建议采取临时性资本管制、针对性量化政策、建立区域货币离岸市场、加快经济结构转型等对策来应对。     

The Improvement in Indonesia's Real Resource Alance, 1986–89: Absorption,Switching and Growth Effects 1

This paper seeks to quantify the immediate determinants of the large improvement in Indonesia's real resource balance (balance of trade in goods and services at constant prices) over the period 1986–89. The paper uses a framework which distinguishes between tradable and non-tradable products to decompose the change in the real resource balance into the effects of changes in absorption, expenditure-switching, output-switching and economic growth. The results show that each of the three annual increases in the real resource balance between 1986 and 1989 was the outcome of positive growth and expenditure-switching effects dominating negative absorption and output-switching effects.