Exchange rate dynamics in economies with portfolio rigidities

This paper studies the international transmission of productivity and monetary shocks in a general equilibrium two-country monetary model with portfolio rigidities and distribution costs in trade. The model features two types of transport costs (iceberg costs and distribution costs in terms of nontradables) and incomplete markets. The specification employed here is able to generate the domestic liquidity effect, increase in the foreign–domestic interest rate differential, and the nominal depreciation after a monetary injection. Quantitatively, the model with distribution costs as in Burstein, Neves and Rebelo (2003) performs better matching some business cycle moments, but fails to generate the high volatility of exchange rates observed in the data.     

Exchange rate instability in a two-country portfolio balance model

This paper considers the question of Walrasian stability in the context of a two-country model in which gross substitutability is assumed and negative net foreign asset positions are ruled out. It demonstrates that these assumptions neither guarantee stability nor guarantee that an increase in the factors deemed destabilizing (stabilizing) in the literature will not in fact turn out to be stabilizing (destabilizing). However, it derives a condition which guarantees stability, pointing out that this condition is more plausible than certain “smallness” assumptions which have performed a similar function in portfolio balance models.     

Exchange rate dynamics in integrated markets

This paper intends to formalize the behavior of exchange rate dynamics in integrated markets. The decomposition of the exchange rate behavior in different time frequencies suggests that both stochastic and fundamental processes as well as exogenous random shocks are present in the determination of the nominal exchange rate dynamics in integrated countries. A stochastic process within a potential well captures all the elements observed in the data. In addition, the mathematical solutions shed some light on the relationship between the stochastic process and the drift found in the literature. Finally, this model provides an alternative to the Standard Target Zone Stochastic Model thus far used to analyze the exchange rate dynamics in integrated markets.     

Exchange rate indeterminacy in portfolio balance, Mundell-Fleming and uncovered interest rate parity models

With full stock/flow accounting respected, the two-country openeconomy portfolio balance model has just two independent equationsfor asset market clearing. It can determine home and foreigninterest rates but not the exchange rate. If asset market equilibriavary smoothly over time, the balance of payments equation inthe Mundell–Fleming model is not independent and cannotset the exchange rate either. The familiar fixed reserves/‘floatingrate’ vs endogenous reserves/‘fixed rate’dichotomy does not exist, and ‘fundamentals-based’econometric models of the exchange rate are bound to fail. Analternative is a two-country IS/LM model with exchange ratedynamics added. Its dynamic properties under uncovered interestrate parity are briefly explored.     

Exchange rate dynamics and currency unification: The Ostmark-DM rate

This paper estimates a simple model of the exchange rate between the East and West German Mark immediately preceding German monetary union. Although there is a theoretical literature on exchange rate dynamics when the introduction of a fixed exchange rate is anticipated, the absence of data has limited empirical work on the subject. We show that in the first part of the sample, the DM-Ostmark exchange rate behaves as a random walk. In the second half, when monetary union appeared more likely, the exchange rate behaves as a weighted average of fundamentals and the expected “terminal” exchange rate.     

Exchange rate and price level dynamics under perfect substitutability of real and financial assets

This note investigates the implications of arbitrage between domestic financial and real assets for the evolution through time of the exchange rate and the price level after a monetary schock. The model yields results contrasting sharply with those of the traditional model of exchange rate dynamics based on international arbitrage [e.g. Dornbusch (1976)]. In particular, there is no overshooting of the exchange rate and the short-run deviations from purchasing power parity are the opposite of those implied by the traditional model.     

Exchange rate and inflation dynamics in dollarized economies

We use a panel of a hundred-plus countries with differing degrees of dollarization to perform an empirical analysis of the effects on inflation of exchange rate depreciations. The results qualify the common view that countries with higher dollarization exhibit higher inflation pass-through. We show that large depreciations tend to generate a negative impact on the pass-through coefficient, this impact being more intense the higher the level of dollarization of the economy. We interpret this as evidence that, in highly dollarized economies, the classic inflationary effects of a real depreciation—higher internal demand and imported inflation—can be offset or diminished by both the larger financial costs and the balance-sheet effect, especially if the depreciation is “large”. Additionally, the exchange rate regime is shown to matter: countries with fixed exchange rates suffer more noticeably the balance-sheet effects of large depreciations.     

Exchange rate policy under sovereign default risk

We examine monetary policy options for a small open economy where sovereign default might occur due to intertemporal insolvency. Under interest rate policy and floating exchange rates the equilibrium is indetermined. Under a fixed exchange rate the equilibrium is uniquely determined and independent of sovereign default.     

Reconsideration of the P-bar model of gradual price adjustment

This paper compares the P-bar model of price adjustment with the currently dominant Calvo specification. Theoretically, the P-bar model is more attractive as it depends on adjustment costs for physical quantities rather than nominal prices, while incorporating a one-period information lag. Furthermore, the resulting adjustment relation is more completely free of “money illusion,” in terms of dynamic relationships, and therefore satisfies the natural-rate hypothesis of Lucas [1972a. Econometric testing of the natural rate hypothesis. In: Eckstein, O. (Ed.), The Econometrics of Price Determination. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System], which is not satisfied by the Calvo model in any of its variants. Along the way, it shows that both the P-bar and Calvo models can be formulated in distinct versions in which current real wages are, or are not, allocative. Quantitatively, for a given calibration of the demand parameters, the implied time-series properties of the inflation rate, output gap, and nominal interest rate are determined for various policy parameters, and are compared with quarterly data for the US economy. Neither model dominates but, overall, the comparison seems somewhat more favorable to the P-bar model and certainly does not provide support for the dominant position held by the Calvo model in current monetary policy analysis.     

Nonlinear exchange rate dynamics under stochastic official intervention

Many studies employ non-linear models to explain or forecast the exchange rate and find their superiority. This article builds an exchange rate model of managed float under conditional official intervention. In the model, the government minimizes social loss through a trade-off between targeting the exchange rate and lowering intervention costs. We obtain an endogenous threshold model and derive an analytical solution of the exchange rate stochastic interventions. The implication of a managed float causing a lower volatility of the exchange rate has been found by past empirical studies. Our model provides not only a justification for the central banks' conditional interventions but also a rationale for the use of regime-switching models of two states (intervention vs. non-intervention) in the empirical studies of exchange rates.     

Exchange rate and wage-price dynamics: A theoretical analysis and an econometric investigation

This paper is an attempt to analyze inflation dynamics in a small open economy as the result of the interaction between wage and price determination behaviors and the interest rate-exchange rate feedback in the context of Dornbusch's model. An extended version of this model is specified and analyzed formally. Then the model is estimated for five OECD countries using a full information maximum likelihood technique. Finally, simulations of the effect of monetary shocks are presented for four countries.     

Exchange rate differential and balance of payments under dual exchange markets

This paper develops a model of an economy that uses two exchange markets: an official market in which the exchange rate is determined by central bank intervention, and a free market in which the exchange rate is determined by market forces. The official market handles selected imports and exports, while the free market handles the remaining imports and exports, and capital transactions. The model is used to discuss the effects of various policies on the differential between the free and the official exchange rates and on the balance of payments.     

Optimal portfolio positioning under ambiguity

This paper analyzes the optimality of financial portfolios when the investor has a utility with ambiguity aversion. It provides a general result about the optimal portfolio profile under ambiguity, in the Anscombe–Aumann framework, using the Maccheroni et al. (2006) approach which includes Gilboa and Schmeidler's (1989) multiple prior preferences and Hansen and Sargent's (2011) multiplier preferences. The paper then details the CRRA case with an ambiguity index based on relative entropy. Such findings have practical applications in structured portfolio management. Indeed, it is important to take account of uncertainty about the true values of financial parameters when determining the best portfolio profile.     

Exchange rate misalignments and the external balance under a pegged currency system

This paper analyzes the link between the exchange rate misalignments and the external balance under a pegged currency system focusing on the former French colonies of Africa (the CFA zone). Having discussed and chosen an appropriate analytical framework, it addresses the issue of model uncertainty regarding the equilibrium exchange rate model before estimating currency misalignments. The results show that misalignments have a negative and asymmetric impact on the current account. While overvaluation of the CFA franc deteriorates the current account, undervaluation does not improve it. Finally, our results highlight that the export concentration tends to exacerbate the overall negative impact of currency misalignments.     

Bilateral portfolio dynamics during the global financial crisis

There has been considerable bilateral variation in the pattern of portfolio capital flows during the global financial crisis: for a given destination, investors from different countries adjusted their holdings to different degrees. We show that the size of the initial bilateral holding, geographical distance, common language, the level of trade and common institutional linkages help to explain the pattern of adjustment. These bilateral factors are more important for equities than for bonds and for investors from developing countries than for investors from advanced countries.     

Multi-period portfolio optimization under possibility measures

A single-period portfolio selection theory provides optimal tradeoff between the mean and the variance of the portfolio return for a future period. However, in a real investment process, the investment horizon is usually multi-period and the investor needs to rebalance his position from time to time. Hence it is natural to extend the single-period fuzzy portfolio selection to the multi-period case based on the possibility theory. In this paper, we propose the possibilistic expected value and variance for the terminal wealth with fuzzy forms after T periods by using the central value operator. Classes of multi-period possibilistic mean-variance models are formulated originally under the assumption that the proceeds of risky assets are fuzzy variables. Besides, we apply a particle swarm optimization algorithm to solve the proposed multi-period fuzzy portfolio selection models. A numerical example is given to illustrate the performance of the proposed models and algorithm.     

The dynamics of municipal fiscal adjustment

The dynamic fiscal policy adjustment of local jurisdictions is investigated empirically using a panel of more than 1000 U.S. municipalities over a quarter of a century. Distinguishing own-source revenue, grants, expenditures, and debt service, the analysis is carried out using a vector error-correction model which takes account of the intertemporal budget constraint. The results indicate that a large part of the adjustment in response to fiscal imbalances takes place by offsetting changes in future expenditures. In addition, the results show that fiscal imbalances are financed to a significant extent by subsequent changes in grants. Decomposition of the sample according to average city population reveals that the basic pattern of fiscal adjustment is robust, although intergovernmental grants play a much more pronounced role in maintaining budget balance for large cities.     

Exchange rate regime classifications and exchange rate variability

It is well known that the exchange rate regime (ERR) declared to the IMF is often different from the actual regime. Several alternative schemes for de facto regime classification have been developed. In this article, we compare the ability of four popular schemes to track exchange rate variability (ERV). We find that the existing ERR classifications do not match well with the degree of ERV, especially for intermediate regimes. For instance, in the Levy-Yeyati and Sturzenegger (2003) coding, the intermediate regimes exhibit greater ERV than the floaters. On the other hand, for the Reinhart and Rogoff (2004) coding, the fixers show greater variability than some intermediates.