The Devil you Know: Pegs vs Floats with Uncertain Outcomes

Theory predicts that a fixed exchange rate regime will be abandoned after a sizable economic shock as currency devaluation could stimulate exports and output. However, devaluation is risky as the new level of the exchange rate and the rate of inflation cannot be predicted. We show that this uncertainty creates resistance to devaluation. Policymakers prefer to maintain the fixed exchange rate and to undergo internal adjustment. We illustrate the point theoretically and provide supporting evidence from Bulgaria's currency board.     

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.     

Fiscal Uncertainty and Currency Crises

Fiscal deficits have been put forward as the main factor in the occurrence of currency crises by the first‐generation currency crisis models. While most papers within this framework consider a fiscal deficit that occurs with certainty, in reality an increase in the government's fiscal burden may be an uncertain outcome. This paper introduces a model where there is uncertainty about the occurrence of a fiscal deficit for a finite number of periods, and studies the effects of such uncertainty on the evolution of currency crises. If the fiscal deficit materializes, the government has to abandon the fixed exchange rate regime, as in the standard case. However, the paper shows that the peg becomes unsustainable even if the fiscal deficit never materializes. Therefore, a speculative attack occurs and the fixed exchange rate regime collapses with the mere possibility of a deficit, independently of whether this outcome actually occurs or not.     

Fiscal Uncertainty and Currency Crises

Fiscal deficits have been put forward as the main factor in the occurrence of currency crises by the first‐generation currency crisis models. While most papers within this framework consider a fiscal deficit that occurs with certainty, in reality an increase in the government's fiscal burden may be an uncertain outcome. This paper introduces a model where there is uncertainty about the occurrence of a fiscal deficit for a finite number of periods, and studies the effects of such uncertainty on the evolution of currency crises. If the fiscal deficit materializes, the government has to abandon the fixed exchange rate regime, as in the standard case. However, the paper shows that the peg becomes unsustainable even if the fiscal deficit never materializes. Therefore, a speculative attack occurs and the fixed exchange rate regime collapses with the mere possibility of a deficit, independently of whether this outcome actually occurs or not.     

放弃成本、政府偏好与资本控制:一个审慎的机会主义汇率制度选择模型

本文在Obstfeld(1 996)第二代货币危机模型的基础上 ,建立了一个考虑经济结构、供给冲击以及金融风险的多因素汇率制度选择模型 ,以成本分析为工具解释了资本控制、各类成本和政府偏好对均衡的影响以及对汇率制度选择的影响。研究表明 :(1 )资本控制可以通过多种途径对均衡产生影响 ,在一定条件下可以利用资本控制措施使经济避免多重均衡 ;(2 )放弃成本对汇率制度选择发挥关键作用 ;(3 )较大的政府偏好促使政府选择固定汇率制度 ,在放弃成本不足够大的条件下 ,决策者也可以通过提高政府偏好或者实施资本控制措施来保护本国固定汇率制度 ;(4)对人民币现行汇率制度的放弃成本的估计表明 ,当前人民币汇率制度放弃成本正处于中间水平 ,因此有必要增大政府对固定汇率制度的偏好并且对资本帐户实施适度管理以保持人民币汇率的稳定 ,防范金融风险。至于未来人民币汇率波动幅度的扩大、资本项目自由化的进程以及人民币汇率制度何时回归真正的“管理浮动” ,应主要取决于人民币汇率制度放弃成本的有效降低     

Fixed exchange rate credibility with heterogeneous expectations

After disinflation has been achieved, agents who form more sophisticated forecasts have lower confidence in the sustainability of a peg compared to less sophisticated agents. Furthermore, sustained financial stability leads to a declining proportion of sophisticated agents. Thus, the credibility of a fixed exchange rate regime grows over time partly because fewer people pay attention to the workings of the monetary regime. These results are derived in a rules-versus-discretion model of a fixed exchange rate regime with heterogeneous agents. We provide unique supporting evidence using data on expectations and information about the monetary regime from Bulgaria’s currency board.     

MONETARY CREDIBILITY VS. VOTER APPROVAL: POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS AND EXCHANGE‐RATE STABILIZATION DURING CRISES

This paper analyzes how political institutions affect the execution of exchange‐rate policy. By focusing on policy‐makers' responses to the emergence of speculative pressure on their currencies, we argue that the effect of democratic institutions on exchange‐rate stability is likely to be conditioned by the officially announced exchange‐rate regime. Officially fixed exchange rates are the main instrument of autocrats to signal commitment to long‐term stability. Autocratic governments with strictly fixed exchange rates are thus more likely to defend their exchange rates than autocrats with an intermediate regime because the latter implicitly signal that they care less about monetary stability. In contrast, democrats defend more often in intermediately than in fully fixed official regimes by using a combination of external and internal adjustments, which reduce the negative effects of a devaluation on voters. Our analysis of 189 currency crises between 1975 and 1999 supports this conditional effect.     

汇率制度选择:基于随机效应多元排序probit模型的分析

选用13个影响汇率制度选择的典型变量,采用随机效应多元排序选择模型对147个国家的汇率制度选择进行分析,发现经济发展水平、美元化程度、货币错配程度越高,实际资本开放程度越大,政府越强,具有高经济增长和长期通货膨胀历史的国家有较高采用相对固定汇率制度的概率;而经济规模、贸易开放度越大以及外债债务比率越高将会促使一国选择灵活性较高的汇率制度。     

Exchange Rate Regimes and Currency Crises: an Evaluation using Extreme Value Theory*

We test whether the exchange regime in place has an impact on the vulnerability of countries to currency crises. Our paper is distinguishable from others (i) in its use of extreme value theory to identify currency crisis periods and (ii) in using two separate designations for the exchange regime in place. The first is the self‐reported or announced exchange rate system. The second classification scheme, by Levy‐Yeyati and Sturzenegger, is based on the relative movements of international reserves and exchange rates. The Levy‐Yeyati and Sturzenegger procedure is intended to reveal the actual as distinct from the “legal” exchange arrangement. We find, interestingly, that the announced exchange regime has an impact on the likelihood of currency crises, while the “true” or observed regime does not. Announced pegged exchange regimes increase the risk of currency crisis even if, in reality, the exchange rate system in place is not pegged.     

MACROECONOMIC VOLATILITY AND COUNTERFACTUAL INFLATION‐TARGETING IN HONG KONG

The present paper evaluates macroeconomic adjustment in Hong Kong with an estimated dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model under a fixed exchange rate regime. We find that exports and world inflation shocks are the dominant sources of GDP volatility, with the risk premium taking on importance during the Asian crisis after 1997. A counterfactual simulation, assuming a flexible exchange rate regime with inflation targeting, shows that inflation would have decreased slightly, but interest‐rate volatility would have increased significantly. The welfare gains from switching out of the currency board system appear to be marginal.     

参考一篮子货币的人民币汇率形成机制研究——基于人民币有效汇率目标的分析

文章主要研究如何建立参考一篮子货币的汇率制度,首先分析了人民币对美元汇率、人民币对非美元货币和人民币有效汇率之间的关系。其次研究了从人民币钉住美元货币汇率向参考一篮子货币汇率制度(人民币有效汇率目标)的过渡,以及建立一篮子货币汇率机制的方法和实证模拟研究,并考察了人民币汇率的波动幅度。最后文章认为人民币汇率制度的市场化改革是我国汇率体制改革的最终目标,并给出了本文的主要结论。     

Fiscal Discipline and Exchange Rate Systems

A new 'fiscal' theory of price determination has implications for exchange rate systems and common currency areas. We show that deeper monetary integration requires the discipline of a Ricardian regime ; that is, the government must guarantee fiscal solvency for any sequence of prices or exchange rates. Particularly striking results are that a currency peg is not credible without the discipline of a Ricardian regime, and a common currency area is not viable if fiscal policy in two (or more) of the countries in the union is Non-Ricardian. Interestingly, constraints written into the Maastricht Treaty are sufficient for a Ricardian regime.     

Exchange rates,inflation and growth in small,open economies: a difference-in-differences approach

Financial crises in emerging markets have led many observers to recommend abandoning fixed exchange rates and adopting more flexible regimes. Moreover, some recent research suggests that the correct exchange rate regime may have a significant effect on inflation and even economic growth. The estimated effect found in such studies, however, likely suffers from an upward bias, as countries which choose a given exchange rate regime have other hard-to-measure policies and attributes which also affect economic performance. Utilizing a recent data set on actual, as opposed to official exchange rate regimes, this article employs the difference-in-differences method, currently popular in applied microeconomics, to a set of emerging markets that switched to more flexible currency policies. Results indicate that, contrary to previous studies, exchange rates themselves exert no significant impact on inflation or output.     

储备型汇率制度:发行非国际货币的发展中国家(地区)之选择

国际货币与非国际货币之区分构成了当前国际金融体系典型的非对称特征。该种区分必将影响不同国家间汇率及汇率制度的选择。本文试图提出一种观点:发行非国际货币的发展中国家所选择的汇率制度可以形容为"储备型汇率制度"。在该种制度下,中央银行对外汇市场不断进行干预以实现其国际货币储备的不断积累,由此而造成本币长期贬值(或低估)和贸易的持续顺差。该种观点不仅与当今世界汇率与汇率制度分布之事实相一致,而且还可通过一个反映发展中国家中央银行行为的动态优化模型进行严格的理论证明。尽管"储备型汇率制度"可能与当前IMF所规定的反"货币操纵"条款相冲突,但是在当前这种不公正和非对称的国际货币体系下,该制度无疑是发展中国家的最优选择。     

A NEW COMPARATIVE STUDY ON THE FREE‐FLOATING AND CURRENCY BOARD REGIMES IN HONG KONG

This study aims to compare the performance of free‐floating and currency board regimes for Hong Kong by examining historical data of the two on the output growth and inflation rate. Structural vector autoregression has been applied in the empirical analysis. Without making a strong assumption of unit variance in the residual matrix, this study applies a more natural approach proposed by Cecchetti and Rich to recover the structural parameters. The study has further investigated the recovery of the economy under a demand shock under different exchange rate regimes, in order to provide some evidence to answer why Hong Kong's recovery process after the Asian financial crisis is relatively longer than that in other economies with a managed floating exchange rate regime. New evidence in this study indicates that output recovers much faster in a flexible exchange rate regime than in a fixed exchange rate regime after an aggregate demand shock. Furthermore, this study has applied a more robust method in the counterfactual analysis when comparing the two regimes. New evidence in this study suggests that a free‐floating regime may generate much smaller output variance in Hong Kong and deliver higher output and price levels to Hong Kong.     

Exchange rate regime,real misalignment and currency crises

Based on 69 sample countries, this paper examines the effect of macroeconomic fundamentals on real effective exchange rates (REER) in these sample countries. Using the misalignment of actual REER from its equilibrium level, we have estimated the factors explaining the extent of currency over- or under-valuation. Overall, we find that the higher the flexibility of the currency regime, the lower is the misalignment. The estimates are robust to different sub-samples of countries. We then explore the impact of such misalignment on the probability of a currency crisis in the next period, indicating the extent to which misalignment could be used as a leading indicator of a potential crisis. This paper thus makes a new contribution to the debate on the choice of exchange rate regime by bringing together real exchange rate misalignment and currency crisis literature.     

Currency substitution,policy rule and pass-through: evidence from Turkey

In this article we analyse empirically currency substitution and exchange rate pass-through in the Turkish Economy, where their ongoing presence could undermine the implementation of a successful monetary policy, especially in a flexible exchange rate regime. Even though a considerable time has passed after the implementation of a flexible exchange rate regime in Turkey, by using Vector Error Correction model for the period from 1987 to 2004, we find that the currency substitution and exchange rate pass-through still have importance in the Turkish Economy and the monetary policy stance has been considerably strong, possibly, as a response of ongoing presence of them. If this is the case, to avoid the undesired consequences of this strong monetary policy, Turkey should consider some policy measures to reduce the degree of pass-through and currency substitution.     

钉住货币篮子汇率制度在中国应用的研究

主要研究货币篮子的定义,如何确定货币篮子的最优权重,并在此基础上运用协整检验的方法实证分析了我国自2005年7月汇率改革以来人民币货币篮子的运行情况。实证的结果表明,在我们所考察的样本区间内,当人民币篮子货币对美元实际汇率贬值(或升值)1%时,人民币对美元的实际汇率只贬值(或升值)0.32%,表明美元在人民币货币篮子中所占权重较大,人民币对美元的汇率仍缺乏弹性。     

Choice of Exchange Rate Regime: Currency Board (Hong Kong) or Monitoring Band (Singapore)?

Following the East Asian crisis, a number of observers have advocated that small and open economies in Asia adopt an irrevocably fixed regime. Such a hard peg, it is argued, signals greater commitment to rule out arbitrary exchange rate adjustments as well as the authorities’ willingness to subordinate domestic policy objectives such as output and employment growth to the maintenance of the pegged exchange rate. But is this a reasonable position to adopt? In order to answer this question, we consider and contrast the experiences of Hong Kong and Singapore. While both of these economies share a number of broad similarities, the former operates a US dollar–linked currency board arrangement and the latter maintains an adjustable peg in the form of a monitoring band arrangement with the central parity based on an undisclosed trade–weighted currency basket.     

Interest rate dynamics and speculative trading in a fixed exchange rate system

Recent evidence provided by Diebold, Gardeazabal, and Yilmaz (1994) for the post-1973 floating rate period points toward the predictive superiority of a martingale representation of exchange rate evolution over that of an error correction model that assumes rates are cointegrated. This is an appealing result from the perspective of efficient assimilation of randomly arriving information. As a direct extension of informational efficiency in a fixed exchange rate regime, I show that information is processed and assimilated through the medium of interest rates. Specifically, I demonstrate that interest rates cannot be represented as a cointegrated system, even when the central bank is willing to establish its determination and resolve to maintain the fixed rate rule over a sustained and prolonged period of time. Evidence provided in this paper is for the interest rate behavior of the Saudi Arabian Riyal with respect to the eurodollar interest rate, the interest rate on the intervention currency.