Hidden patterns in exchange rate regime choice

There have been a number of empirical attempts to account for variation in exchange rate regime choice, but these attempts point in several directions and are not made sense of easily. One reason for the differences among studies is that standard statistical techniques are unable to identify the nonlinear and contingent relationships among the factors that influence the choice of exchange rate regime. This article utilizes a statistical technique that reveals complex nonlinear interactions among variables. The analysis reveals that the influence of past inflation acts to condition the influence of labor market rigidity and that political stability plays a key role for both high and low inflation countries.     

Foreign interest rate shocks and exchange rate regimes in East Asia

Using a theoretical dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model and an empirical panel vector autoregression, we assess the transmission of foreign real interest rate shocks on the volatility of various key macroeconomic variables in nine small open economies in East Asia taking into account the role of exchange rate regimes. Both the theoretical and empirical findings confirm the hypothesis that flexible exchange rate may work as a shock absorber when the economy is hit by foreign real interest rate shocks. The findings suggest a clear trade-off between the volatility of real exchange rate and real output to foreign interest rate shocks, both the US and G7 real interest rates, where the responses of real output are mitigated in countries that have more flexible exchange rate regime.     

The choice of exchange rate regime: An empirical analysis for transition economies*

We analyze the choice of exchange rate regimes of the 25 transition economies in Europe and the CIS after 1990. The empirical results show that the traditional Optimum Currency Area considerations provide relevant guidance for the regime choices in these countries. Moreover, regime choices are influenced by inflation rates, cumulative inflation differentials, and international reserves sufficiency. That is, macroeconomic stabilization and the ability to commit to exchange rate pegs also play important roles. Large government deficits have ambiguous effects; they increase the likelihood of moving from flexible to intermediate regimes as well as that of moving from fixed to intermediate ones.     

Research on the choice of RMB exchange rate regime

From the perspective of welfare, by synthesizing the normative and empirical analysis, this paper applies the framework of “new open economy macroeconomics” to the qualitative and quantitative researches on the choice of RMB exchange rate regime in the short and medium run. It sets up the structural model, takes the economical data during 1985–2005 to perform both the positive and simulative analysis, and it is shown that: with the increases of international real demand and international price index, in order to improve the welfare of people, the RMB exchange rate regime should be more flexible. __________ Translated from Jingji yanjiu 经济研究 (Economic Research Journal), 2007, (11): 45–57     

The crisis of urbanization in Asia: finding alternatives to megalopolitan growth

The rapid expansion of large Asian cities generates serious social, economic, and physical problems, and has thereby forced these areas to create alternative expansion plans, such as the idea of building up secondary cities and towns. The result of the rapid expansion of large cities, combined with poor urban management, accentuates the mass poverty in many Asian cities. This large urban population is expected to double or triple in size between 1970 and 2000. Because substantial resources are required to manage these megalopolitan areas, it is reasonable to deduce that millions of these city dwellers will be living in absolute poverty by 2000. It is the prospect of continued rapid growth over the next 2 decades that presents the most serious problem for Asian countries. Most metropolises cannot provide enough jobs for the current work force. In addition, public facilities, housing, transportation, and health services are examples of other problems threatened by a heavy concentration of people. Attempts to control this growth have been unsuccessful, mainly due to the 1950s and 1960s emphasis on productive investment, which left rural regions underdeveloped and poor. Secondary cities and regional centers in Asia perform important functions in promoting widespread economic and social development: 1) they stimulate rural economies and therefore establish a pattern of step-wise migration, and 2) they absorb population and therefore, relieve some of the pressure put on the largest metropolitan areas. Studies of secondary cities and their attempts at controlling growth of large metropolitan centers suggest broad guidelines for strategies. Some of these are: 1) the existence of large metropolises has little effect on the growth of primate cities; 2) few controls on growth of large areas are likely to be effective unless there are viable alternative locations at which high threshold economic activities can operate; 3) secondary cities must be closely related to the agricultural economies of their rural hinterlands; and 4) attention must be given to improving transportation and other communication between large metropolitan centers, secondary cities, and smaller cities and towns. The continued concentration of people and economic activities in vast megalopolitan areas will continue to generate serious economic and social problems that may help stimulate the evolution of some of these strategies.     

Crisis and recovery: Role of the exchange rate regime in emerging market economies

Following the recent global financial crisis, questions about the mechanisms that can help countries cope with large shocks have resurfaced. This paper examines the role of the exchange rate regime in explaining how emerging market economies fared in the recent global financial crisis, particularly in terms of output losses and output rebound. After controlling for regime switches during the crisis, using alternative definitions for pegs, and taking account of other likely determinants, we find that the growth performance for pegs was not different from that of floats during the crisis. The picture is different for the recovery period 2010–2011, as pegs appear to be faring worse, with growth recovering more slowly than floats. These results suggest an asymmetric effect of the regime during and recovering from the crisis. We also find that proxies of the trade and financial channels are important determinants of growth performance during the crisis, while only the trade channel appears important for the recovery thus far.     

从贸易摩擦到汇率系统的国家利益冲突

本文由国际贸易理论中存在的多童均衡引发的国家利益冲突从而引起世界各国在国际贸易中面临国家竞争战略的机制这一论点出发,以美日两国国家竞争战略的机制选择为例,阐明汇率系统的冲突已经成为当前世界各国国家利益冲突的主要形式.这一研究结论为中国国家竞争战略的选择和制定提供了一种思路.     

发展战略与汇率制度选择

一般而言,一国汇率制度的选择会受该国经济和政治因素的影响,而发展中国家在选择汇率制度时还会受到其发展战略的影响.本文考察了发展战略与汇率制度选择之间的关系,发现实施赶超战略和进口替代战略的国家会选择固定汇率制度并高估本币币值,甚至采用多元汇率制度;实施出口导向战略的国家会选择固定汇率或者钉住汇率制度,一般钉住美元且波幅很小,并低估本币币值;而只有真正实施比较优势战略的国家才选择浮动汇率制度,政府很少干预汇率的变化.现阶段,我国要坚定地实施有管理的浮动汇率.并适当控制人民币的升值速度.     

The real exchange rate and the black market exchange rate in developing countries

This article tests for the validity of the Purchasing power parity (PPP) theory using both the black market and the official exchange rates for panels with cross sectional dependency. The test is conducted using a newly developed, nonlinear IV panel unit root test that properly handles cross-sectional dependency for thirty-seven developing countries. We find that the null of joint unit root hypothesis is rejected for the whole panel, using the black market exchange rate, and for sub-panels of African and high inflation countries, using either exchange rate. The black market-based real exchange rates are, therefore, shown to provide stronger evidence for the purchasing power parity theory than do the official rates. This finding is consistent with the observation that black market exchange rates better represent market forces and thus are more relevant when testing for the validity of the PPP theory in developing countries.     

The exchange rate cycle in Argentina

This article discusses the secular volatility of output, inflation, the exchange rate, and poverty in Argentina. Inflation, currency devaluation and a wide gross domestic product (GDP) cycle have been recurrent problems in Argentina for several decades. The literature has extensively discussed those issues from different viewpoints. This study focuses on a relatively unexplored theme that may contribute to a partial explanation. It deals with the continuous tendency to equalize different profitabilities resulting, in turn, from remarkably different sectoral purchasing power parities. Thus, for any given exchange rate, an incessant tendency toward the equalization of profitabilities generates opposing inflationary and devaluatory pressures. The resulting inflation-devaluation cycle feeds income redistribution, GDP fluctuation, real exchange rate instability, and high levels of uncertainty.     

Income instability,terms of trade,and the choice of exchange rate regime

In this article terms of trade fluctuations, which constitute an important source of income instability in many LDC's, are decomposed into three principal components: (a) shifts in world market conditions, (b) shifts in home market conditions and (c) changes in exchange rates. The appropriateness of a ‘basket peg’ is then analyzed in terms of a country's net export-side market power and a weighting formula is derived which would offset variations in third countries' exchange rates on the home country's terms of trade. Initial empirical results tend to support the hypothesis that basket pegs are usually adopted by countries with net export-side market power.     

Real exchange rate and exchange rate policy in Hungary

Five real exchange rate indicators are computed to assess the international competitiveness of Hungarian industry. These indicators are explained in econometric equations by employment, unemployment, productivity, interest spread and real producer wage. Causality tests reveal that external performance has an impact on real exchange rates, and contributes to explaining real exchange rates. There is very limited scope for policy intervention to constrain the negative effects of capital inflows without incurring other costs.     

东亚汇率协调机制与中国的理性选择

1997年亚洲金融危机之后,汇率协调的重要性已在东亚各国政府及经济学界形成共识.对于如何建立东亚汇率协调机制,许多国家政府和经济学家都提出了解决方案,并进行了大量的实证研究.如东亚日元区方案、东亚美元本位方案、一篮子目标区爬升钉住方案、亚洲汇率机制方案以及编制亚洲货币单位方案等.但是,通过对比分析各种协调方案认为,目前在亚洲还不存在一种可行的稳定的汇率协调机制,因此,谋求人民币在亚洲地区作为关键货币的地位才是中国在东亚货币合作中的最大利益所在.     

Financial crisis in Southeast Asia: dispelling illusion the Minskyan way

This paper extends Minsky's financial instability hypothesisto the case of the open, ‘liberalised’, economy,making it possible to put forward a specifically Minskyan accountof the road to the financial crisis in Southeast Asia (1997/1998).The analysis suggests that the threats to growth and employmentemanating from the financial sector which Minsky identifiedin the closed economy setting are much intensified in open,liberalised, developing economies. Financial liberalisationis an important key factor in this process. Rival explanationsof the crisis are examined and rejected in favour of the extendedMinskyan explanation. The policy implications are derived anddiscussed.     

Exchange rate regime verification: An alternative method of testing for regime changes

This work proposes a change in persistence test for identifying de facto exchange rate regime changes. The results from 25 African countries show that this approach is able to identify some regime changes not captured by existing methods.