How would Capital Account Liberalization Affect China＇s Capital Flows and the Renminbi Real Exchange Rates？

In this paper we study the determinants of gross capital flows, project the size of China's international investment position in 2020, and analyze the implications for the renminbi real exchange rate if China liberalizes the capital account. We assume in this exercise that the renminbi will have largely achieved capital account convertibility by the end of the current decade, a timetable consistent with recent proposals by the People's Bank of China. Our analysis shows that if the capital account were liberalized, China's gross international investment position would grow significantly, and inflows and outflows would become much more balanced. The private sector would turn its net liability position into a balanced position, and the official sector would reduce its net asset position significantly, relative to the country's GDP. Because of the increasing importance of private sector foreign claims and the decreasing importance of official foreign reserves, China would be able to earn higher net investment income from abroad. Overall, China would continue to be a net creditor, with the net foreign asset position as a share of GDP remaining largely stable through this decade. These findings suggest that the renminbi real exchange rate would not be particularly sensitive to capital account liberalization as capital flows are expected to be two‐sided. The renminbi real exchange rate would likely be on a path of moderate appreciation as China is expected to maintain a sizeable growth differential with its trading partners.     

Transfer Effect in National Price Levels

A model of national price levels is developed to lay bare implicit assumptions behind the conventional view on the effect of productivity differentials and net foreign assets. The effect of productivity on national price levels is determined by the interaction of several countervailing channels, implying that the net effect can go in either direction for reasonable parameter values. By comparison, net foreign assets have a more robust effect on national price levels than productivity differentials. Basic theoretical implications are confirmed by the price level data of OECD countries. JEL no. C82, F31, F41     

Direct and Spillover Effects of Unconventional Monetary and Exchange Rate Policies

This paper explores the direct effects and spillovers of unconventional monetary and exchange rate policies. We find that official purchases of foreign assets have a large positive effect on a country’s current account that diminishes considerably as capital mobility rises. There is an important additional effect through the lagged stock of official assets. Official purchases of domestic assets, or quantitative easing (QE), appear to have no significant effect on a country’s current account when capital mobility is high, but there is a modest positive impact when capital mobility is low. The effects of purchases of foreign assets spill over to other countries in proportion to their degree of international financial integration. We also find that increases in US bond yields are associated with increases in foreign bond yields and in stock prices, as well as with depreciations of foreign currencies, but that all of these effects are smaller on days of US unconventional monetary policy announcements. We develop a theoretical model that is broadly consistent with our empirical results and that highlights the potential usefulness of domestic unconventional policies as responses to the effects of foreign policies of a similar type.     

全球经常项目失衡问题研究

近些年,全球经常项目失衡问题成为经济研究者、国际机构和各国中央银行经济学家以及商务经济研究报告竞相研究的热点问题。本文构建了经常项目影响因素的一个简单的理论模型,应用该结构性模型考察了一国在世界经济中的地位、政府财政收支以及对外净资产等经济变量对经常项目的影响,利用52个国家或地区1980年到2004年经济数据就理论模型所关注的经济变量对经常项目的影响进行了实证研究,并且对解决当前全球经常项目失衡问题提出了相关建议。     

全球经济失衡的利益考察——基于估值的视角

文章从估值视角分析了全球经济失衡的金融利益分配格局。在分析估值效应研究现状的基础上,根据相关的理论模型与分析方法,选取失衡中心美国与贸易顺差国日本和中国为分析对象,利用估值效应对全球经济失衡的金融利益分配格局进行了实证检验。结果表明,在全球经济失衡期间,美国的净国外资产变动存在相当大的正估值,与之相应的最大贸易顺差国日本和中国的净国外资产变动中存在巨大的负估值,意味着与外部失衡相应的国际资本流动收益为美国提供了稳定的融资来源,相当于实现了从顺差国向美国的财富转移。     

The anatomy of large valuation episodes

We examine cases in which there is a large shift in a country’s net foreign asset position due to the re-valuation of its foreign assets and/or foreign liabilities. We highlight the differences in large valuation shocks between countries characterized by large gross stocks of foreign assets and foreign liabilities and countries exhibiting large net external positions. Finally, we analyze macroeconomic dynamics in the neighborhood of large valuation episodes.     

Do international investment income flows smooth income?

Do International Investment Income Flows Smooth Income? — One mechanism by which international capital market integration can smooth consumption is to stabilize national income. In order to provide income smoothing, net international investment income should negatively co-vary with GDP. Moreover, to maximize stabilization of GNP in the face of GDP fluctuations, the yield on foreign assets should move countercyclically and the yield on foreign liabilities procyclically. In both time series and panel settings, we reject these hypotheses, suggesting that positive gross international investment income positions are not associated with income smoothing at businesscycle frequencies.     

Net foreign asset positions and appreciation expectations on the Swiss franc and the Japanese Yen

The paper shows that currencies of countries with persistent current account surpluses and high foreign-currency denominated assets, such as the Swiss franc and the Japanese yen, are under persistent appreciation pressure, particularly when the centres of the world monetary system follow expansionary monetary policies. This limits the choice of exchange rate regime. Given flexible exchange rates, a negative risk premium on the domestic interest rate can emerge. Empirical estimations provide mixed evidence for a negative impact of net foreign asset positions and exchange rate uncertainty on interest rates of international creditor countries at the periphery of the world monetary system.     

China as a Net Creditor： An Indication of Strength or Weaknesses？

China's international investment position is characterized by large net foreign assets, a dominance of low‐return foreign exchange reserves and costly foreign direct investment in foreign assets and foreign liabilities. In addition, China's foreign investment positions are facing potentially large exchange risks. These features reflect entrenched institutional and structural problems in China, including underdeveloped capital markets, biased resource allocation and a defective social security system. China's net creditor status might actually be an indication of weakness rather than strength. To improve its international investment position, China must speed up economic reforms and allow the market to play a fundamental role in resource allocation.     

New capital estimates for China

Data on physical capital are an indispensable part of economic growth and efficiency studies. In the case of China, economy-wide fixed asset series are usually derived by aggregating gross fixed capital formation (net of depreciation) over time, and sectoral/ownership-specific series by correcting the limited official fixed asset data available. These procedures, to varying degrees, ignore that (i) gross fixed capital formation does not equal investment, (ii) investment does not equal the value of fixed assets newly created through investment, (iii) depreciation is an accounting measure that bears no necessary relation to changes in the production capacity of fixed assets, (iv) official fixed asset data, where available, incorporate significant revaluations in the 1990s, and (v) “net fixed assets” do not measure the contribution of fixed assets to production.This paper derives economy-wide fixed asset values for 1953–2003, correcting for these shortcomings. It uses both the traditional, cumulative approach and a new, so far unexplored method of combining economy-wide depreciation values and an economy-wide depreciation rate to directly yield economy-wide fixed assets. The derived fixed asset time series are evaluated in a comparison with each other as well as with series in the literature, leading to the recommendation of a specific choice of fixed asset time series.     

中国对外金融的政策排序——基于国家对外资产负债表的分析

文章立足于中国国际投资头寸表,以提高中国对外净资产为目标,讨论了中国对外金融开放的政策排序。增加对外负债的前提是提高对外资产的投资收益,这一逻辑决定了人民币汇率形成机制改革、外汇储备管理体系改革、资本流出管理改革是当前最迫切的改革内容,人民币国际化与资本流入管理改革应该在上述改革的基础上推进。     

Why does the current account matter?

Summary Professor Lamfalussy discusses the nature and significance of the current account of the balance of payments. After a general analysis he applies his reasoning to the problems connected with the oil-price explosion and their effects on the pattern of current-account positions of various groups of countries. He arrives at two conclusions. The first is probably not very controversial: the international distribution of current-account imbalances deserves to remain in the centre of economic analysis because they are the vehicle for transferring real resources and because the position of its current account may have far-reaching consequences on each country's exchange rate, domestic price developments, income distribution and growth prospects. The second is that for these very reasons policy makers cannot disregard the structure of the balance of payments — even if they will have to realise that it is often not in their power to achieve what would seem to be an optimum structure.     

Die internationalen auswirkungen nationaler geldpolitischer ma\nahmen

Summary The International Effects of National Monetary Policies. — In this paper, a dynamic two-country model with sluggish price adjustment, flexible exchange rates, perfect capital mobility and rational expectations with respect to the rate of change of the exchange rate is discussed. It is shown that both a once-and-for-all increase in the level of the national money stock and the rate of national monetary growth have no effects on foreign real output and the foreign inflation rate in the long run equilibrium. This result is independent of the degree of wage indexation in the home and foreign country. On the other side, a national monetary growth policy has permanent effects on national output if national nominal wages are not fully indexed. Finally, the problem of international monetary policy coordination is discussed.

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Résumé Les effets internationaux de la politique monétaire nationale. — Dans cette étude on discute un modèle dynamique à deux pays avec un ajustement ralenti des prix, des cours de change flexibles, une mobilité parfaite des capitaux et des expectatives rationnelles concernant le taux des variations du cours de change. Il est montré que le niveau de la quantité de monnaie nationale et le taux de l’accroissement monétaire, augmentés une fois pour toutes, produisent aucun effet sur l’output réel et le taux d’inflation à l’étranger dans l’équilibre à long terme. Ce résultat est indépendant du dégré de l’indexation des salaires au pays d’origine et à l’étranger. De l’autre c?te, une politique de l’accroissement monétaire dans un pays produit des effets permanents sur l’output national si les salaires nationaux nominaux ne sont pas complètement indexés. Enfin, cette étude discute le problème de la coordination internationale de la politique monétaire.

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Resumen Los efectos internacionales de las politicas monetarias nacionales. — Eneste trabajo se discute un modelo dinámico de dos paises con ajuste lento de precios, tasas de cambio flexibles, mobilidad de capital perfecta y expectativas racionales con respecto a los movimientos de la tasa de cambio. Se demuestra que tanto un aumento único del stock nacional de dinero como la tasa de crecimiento de la oferta monetaria no tienen efectos sobre el producto real extranjero y la tasa de inflation extranjera en el equilibrio de largo plazo. Este resultado es independiente del grado de indexación de salarios en ambos paises. Por otro lado, una politica nacional de crecimiento de la oferta monetaria tiene efectos permanentes sobre el producto nacional si los salarios nominales nacionales no están completamente indexados. Al final del trabajo se discute el problema de la coordination internacional de la politica monetaria.

     

The current account as a dynamic portfolio choice problem

The current account can be understood as the outcome of investment decisions made by domestic and foreign investors. These decisions can be decomposed into portfolio rebalancing and portfolio growth components, as highlighted by theoretical models. The empirical literature draws attention to the relative importance of portfolio rebalancing to explain fluctuations in capital flows, although they do not shed light on the mechanisms behind these rebalancing effects. In this paper, we provide empirical evidence of the importance of portfolio rebalancing driven by changes in investment opportunities for the dynamics of the current account. In particular, we evaluate the predictions of a partial-equilibrium model of the current account with dynamic portfolio choices, in which portfolio rebalancing is driven by changes in expected asset returns. Focusing on the dynamics of the current account between Japan and the US, we find evidence supporting innovations in investment opportunities as an important mechanism to explain international capital flows.     

服务贸易、非对称开放与全球失衡:一项跨国的经验研究

文章从贸易内部结构出发，分析非对称开放条件下，服务贸易兴起与全球失衡之间的关系。并利用全球59个主要贸易国家2000-2014年双边贸易数据对两者之间的关系进行计量分析，实证结果显示：第一，服务贸易净值与经常账户余额之间存在显著的负向关系，服务贸易净值提高100万美元，经常账户余额减少98.7万美元。在引入交互项之后这种关系依然显著成立。因此，服务贸易的非对称开放是造成全球失衡的重要原因。第二，技术进步和利率上调可以扭转服务贸易对经常账户的抑制作用。第三，金融危机之后，服务贸易和经常账户的负向关系进一步强化。后危机时代，全球失衡现象有可能继续恶化。第四，分位数回归发现，在低点位处服务贸易净值对经常账户的影响更为强烈。文章的研究为理解中国的服务贸易逆差提供了新的视角，并为扭转服务贸易逆差奠定了理论基础。     

Exchange Rate Returns and External Adjustment: Evidence from Switzerland

This paper studies the predictive power of external imbalances for exchange rate returns. We focus on Switzerland, a very open economy where exchange rate movements have a strong effect on external imbalances through valuation effects and trade flows. Using a simple modification of the Gourinchas and Rey (J Polit Econ 115(4):665–703, 2007) approach to make their approximation applicable to Switzerland, we find that measures of deviations from trends in Swiss net foreign assets and net exports help to forecast Swiss franc nominal effective exchange rate movements, both in and out of sample.     

海外资产和日本经济的转型

2011年日本的国际收支出现历史性转变,贸易收支和服务收支均为赤字,所得收支成为经常收支盈余的主体。日本海外资产规模已经与其国内生产总值不相上下,海外净资产连续22年据世界首位。日本经济正经历着从"贸易立国"向"投资立国"的战略转型。日本海外资产增速快,净资产多,但是结构不合理。同欧美"枢纽式"海外资产结构相比,"单行道"式的海外资产结构表明日本经济与世界经济融合度还不高、国内创新能力不足。内外经济环境变化、企业行为变化和政府政策从不同角度推动着日本经济的转型,但存在许多不确定的因素。     

国际收支失衡条件下我国货币政策的有效性研究

在开放经济条件下,国际收支活动对国内的货币供给将产生巨大影响。我国目前国际收支中存在经常项目和资本项目双顺差的情况。那么国际收支失衡的条件下,货币当局应该采用什么样的货币政策中介目标,采用什么样的政策工具才能保证宏观调控目标的时间,就成为亟待研究的理论和现实课题。     

Measuring Net Foreign Assets： The Case of China

This paper discusses two methods of measuring net foreign assets（NFA）： directly using the financial account and indirectly using the current account. The former method is found to be more accurate than the latter method. The paper also includes a detailed discussion of the valuation methodology. The results show that China＇s NFA are much lower than the cumulative current account surplus or the cumulative foreign exchange reserves. This leads to an underestimation of growth in foreign direct investment and an overestimation of the capacity of foreign exchange reserves to cope with possible withdrawals. Therefore, the Chinese Government should pay more attention to valuation issues to obtain more accurate measurement of NFA. Meanwhile, the Chinese monetary authority should relax its control on the foreign exchange settlement system, allow the private sector to hold a certain amount of foreign exchange, and encourage foreign assets to be denominated in RMB to solve structural problems, including entity and currency mismatch