Foreign exchange intervention and equilibrium real exchange rates

Monetary authorities intervene in the currency markets in order to pursue a monetary rule and/or to smooth exchange rate volatility caused by speculative attacks. In the present paper we investigate for possible intervention effects on the volatility of nominal exchange rates and the estimated equilibrium behaviour of real exchange rates. The main argument of the paper is that omission of intervention effects – when they are significant – would bias the ability to detect any PPP-based behaviour of the real exchange rates in the long run. Positive evidence for this argument comes from the experience of six Central and Eastern European economies, whose exchange markets are characterised by frequent interventions.     

Fractional cointegration and tests of present value models

This paper tests the validity of present value (PV) models of stock prices by employing a two-step strategy for testing the null hypothesis of no cointegration against alternatives which are fractionally cointegrated. Monte Carlo simulations are conducted to evaluate the power and size properties of this test, which is shown to outperform existing ones, and to compute appropriate critical values for finite samples. It is found that stock prices and dividends are both I(1) nonstationary series, but they are fractionally cointegrated. This implies that, although there exists a long-run relationship, which is consistent with PV models, the equilibrium errors exhibit slow mean reversion. As the error correction term possesses long memory, deviations from equilibrium are highly persistent.     

Macroeconomic shocks, structural change and real exchange rates: Evidence from historical data

We present empirical evidence on the forces driving real exchange rates in the long-run. Using data from the US, UK and Italy across different exchange rate regimes, we find support for the hypothesis that productivity and fiscal shocks matter. However, in some cases fiscal shocks cause depreciations, likely triggered by the monetary accommodation of fiscal shocks. We also find that the traditional Harrod–Balassa–Samuelson effect of productivity on real exchange rates is reversed in some cases, which confirms the importance of the distributive sector in driving productivity gains.     

Nonlinear trends in real exchange rates: A panel unit root test approach

We analyze the possibility of nonlinear trend stationarity as the alternative to unit roots in 23 OECD real exchange rates, 1974–1998, by adding nonlinear time terms to the CIPS panel unit root test of Pesaran (2007). We follow a thorough bootstrapping approach and propose a technique to adjust statistical significance for the use of multiple tests over several time trend orders. The unit root null that all real exchange rates have unit roots is rejected at better than the 0.05 level. Bootstrapped results from a procedure of Chortareas and Kapetanios (2009) suggest that the hypothesis that all are stationary is reasonable. We argue that nonlinear trend stationarity is the most likely alternative hypothesis for at least some of the real exchange rates because: (1) the strongest CIPS rejection occurs when quadratic trends are specified; (2) nonlinear time terms are statistically significant at the 0.10 level; (3) the actual CIPS statistics are more consistent with CIPS sampling distributions from bootstrapped nonlinear trend stationary processes than from linear trend or mean stationary processes.     

Accounting for real exchange rates using micro-data

The classical dichotomy predicts that all of the time-series variance in the aggregate real exchange rate is accounted for by non-traded goods in the consumer price index (CPI) basket because traded goods obey the Law of One Price. In stark contrast, Engel (1999) claimed the opposite: that traded goods accounted for all of the variance. Using micro-data and recognizing that final good prices include both the cost of the goods themselves and local, non-traded inputs into retail such as labor and retail space, our work re-establishes the conceptual value of the classical dichotomy. We also carefully show the role of aggregation, consumption expenditure weighting and assignment of covariance terms in the differences between our findings and those of Engel.     

U.S. real exchange rate fluctuations and relative price fluctuations

Traditional theory attributes fluctuations in real exchange rates to changes in the relative price of nontraded goods. This paper studies the relation between the United States’ bilateral real exchange rate and the associated bilateral relative price of nontraded goods for five of its most important trade relationships. We find that this relation depends crucially on the choice of price series used to measure relative prices and on the choice of trade partner. The relation is stronger when we measure relative prices using producer prices rather than consumer prices. The relation is stronger the more important is the trade relationship between the United States and a trade partner. Even in cases where there is a strong relation between the real exchange rate and the relative price of nontraded goods, however, a large fraction of real exchange rate fluctuations is due to deviations from the law of one price for traded goods.     

Bivariate FIGARCH and fractional cointegration

We consider the modelling of volatility on closely related markets. Univariate fractional volatility (FIGARCH) models are now standard, as are multivariate GARCH models. In this paper, we adopt a combination of the two methodologies. There is as yet little consensus on the methodology for testing for fractional cointegration. The contribution of this paper is to demonstrate the feasibility of estimating and testing cointegrated bivariate FIGARCH models. We apply these methods to volatility on the NYMEX and IPE crude oil markets. We find a common order of fractional integration for the two volatility processes and confirm that they are fractionally cointegrated. An estimated error correction FIGARCH model indicates that the preponderant adjustment is of the IPE towards NYMEX.     

The real exchange rate in the long run: Balassa-Samuelson effects reconsidered

Historical data for over hundred years and 14 countries is used to estimate the long-run effect of productivity on the real exchange rate. We find large variations in the productivity effect across four distinct monetary regimes in the sample period. Although the traditional Balassa-Samuelson model is not consistent with these results, we suggest an explanation of the results in terms of contemporary variants of the model that incorporate the terms of trade mechanism. Specifically we argue that changes in trade costs over time may affect the impact of productivity on the real exchange rate over time. We undertake simulations of the modern versions of the Balassa-Samuelson model to show that plausible parameter shifts consistent with the behavior of trade costs can explain the cross-regime variation of the productivity effect.     

Global and country-specific movements in real effective exchange rates: Implications for external competitiveness

Using the Bayesian factor model, we decompose real effective exchange rates, which are considered a measure of external competitiveness, into global and country-specific factors. Among several findings, we report a particular global trend in real exchange rates, but a substantial proportion of their variation is found to be country-specific. In line with this finding, we find that structural shifts, when they do exist, are contained in country-specific factors. Furthermore, consistent with economic theory, this global factor is closely related to a trend in the global interest rate, while country-specific factors are closely related to idiosyncratic movements in the countries’ own interest rates. Such a decomposition results in better understanding of the exchange rate-interest rate relationship, and therefore our results can be interpreted as evidence that external competitiveness is heterogeneous among countries and that economic policies can influence countries’ competitiveness.     

Dollar exchange rate and stock price: evidence from multivariate cointegration and error correction model

In this paper, we investigate existence of long-run equilibrium relationships among the aggregate stock price, industrial production, real exchange rate, interest rate, and inflation in the United States. Applying Johansen's cointegration analysis to monthly data for the 1974:01-1998:12 period, we find that the S&P 500 stock price is positively related to the industrial production but negatively to the real exchange rate, interest rate, and inflation. Analysis of error correction mechanism reveals that the stock price, industrial production, and inflation adjust to correct disequilibrium among the five variables, while variance decompositions indicate that the stock price is driven to a considerable extent by innovations in the interest rate. Structural stability tests show that the parameters of the cointegrating system and the error correction term are stationary.     

The effect of real rates of interest on housing prices

During the late 1970s, U.S. house prices were appreciating rapidly even though mortgage interest rates were climbing. Recently, interest rates have eased but prices have moderated. This study examines the role of appreciation expectations in overcoming the negative effects of nominal mortgage interest rates on house prices. Expectations of future appreciation are important determinants of house sales prices, remaining influential during periods of declining and moderating real prices, not just when prices are rising. The real rate of interest, as viewed by the homebuyer, is the mechanism for affecting change in housing price levels. Because the nominal interest rate is slow to reflect changes in expectations, these real rates vary over time. This ebb and flow of real interest rates appears to explain market price levels. Nominal rates play a role as well, primarily in the formation of appreciation expectations.     

Regime-switching models for exchange rates

This study provides evidence of periodically collapsing bubbles in the British pound to US dollar exchange rate in the post-1973 period. We develop two- and three-state regime-switching (RS) models that relate the expected exchange rate return to the bubble size and to an additional explanatory variable. Specifically, we consider six alternative explanatory variables that have been proposed in the literature as early warning indicators of a currency crisis. Our findings suggest that the RS models are, in general, more accurate than the Random Walk model in terms of both statistical and especially economic evaluation criteria for exchange rate forecasts. Our three-state RS model outperforms the two-state models and among the variables considered in our analysis, the short-term interest rate is the optimal variable, closely followed by imports. Results are more promising for one-month predictions and are qualitatively robust over sample spans. However, various robustness checks based on other exchange rates show that the optimal bubble measures and optimal predictors critically depend on the exchange rate.     

The impact of real exchange rate shocks on manufacturing workers: An autopsy from the MORG

We study the impact of large real exchange rate shocks on workers in sectors initially more exposed to international trade using the Current Population Survey’s (CPS) Merged Outgoing Rotation Group (MORG) from 1979 to 2010 combined with new annual measures of imported inputs, a proxy for offshoring. We find that in periods when US relative prices are high, and imports surge relative to exports, workers in sectors with greater initial exposure to international trade were more likely to be unemployed or exit the labor force a year later, but did not experience significant declines in wages conditional on being employed. Contrary to the usual narrative, we find negative wage effects for higher-wage, but not lower-wage workers, particularly for those who are less-educated.     

New evidence on nominal exchange rate predictability

The Meese–Rogoff puzzle, one of the well-known puzzles in international economics, concerns the weak relationship between nominal exchange rates and market fundamentals. The purpose of this paper is to show that market fundamentals do in fact matter in forecasting nominal exchange rates. In particular, we emphasize the importance of the Harrod–Balassa–Samuelson effect in modeling deviations from purchasing power parity. Based on the post-Bretton Woods period, we provide solid out-of-sample evidence that rejects the random walk forecast model at medium-term and long-term forecast horizons. We also find mild evidence for out-of-sample predictability of nominal exchange rates over the short term.     

International asset returns and exchange rates

We present a consumption-based international asset-pricing model to study global equity premiums, the US riskfree rate and the cross section of international asset returns. The model entails idiosyncratic, country-specific consumption risk, which helps explain the magnitude of global equity premiums. It also features country-specific habit formation, which helps explain the level of the interest rate on the US short-term Treasury bills traded by domestic and international investors. We find that the model explains approximately 40–50% of the cross section of currency and equity premiums as well as expected returns from value and growth portfolios of at least a dozen countries. Changes in real exchange rates are responsible for explaining approximately half of the cross section of international asset returns.     

Investigating nonlinearities in real exchange rate adjustment: Threshold cointegration and the dynamics of exchange rates and relative prices

Motivated by growing evidence of nonlinear mean-reverting behavior in real exchange rates, this paper investigates the underlying dynamics in the context of a threshold vector error correction model (TVECM) of nominal exchange rate and relative prices. Unlike univariate models, our nonlinear multivariate framework takes into explicit account the joint behavior and individual dynamics of the nominal exchange rate and relative prices when these two key variables are threshold cointegrated. Our empirical application unravels their relative contribution to mean reversion and underscores the importance of capturing their interactions in investigating the nonlinear adjustment toward purchasing power parity.     

Distribution of parallel exchange rates in African countries

This paper investigates the distribution of parallel exchange rates in African countries using exploratory data analysis techniques and model fitting. Stable laws are fitted to empirical distributions using the maximum likelihood estimation method. Empirical evidence supports the stable hypothesis these distributions are positively skewed and have tails that are much heavier than Gaussian counterparts. The stable hypothesis is further supported by the “converging variance test,” which suggests that these distributions have infinite variance.     

The bias of tests for a risk premium in forward exchange rates

The pure expectations theory of unbiased forward exchange rates predicts that the slope coefficient in a regression of the change in the spot rate on the difference between the current forward and spot rates should equal unity. In the recent empirical work by Fama, the estimates of this coefficient turn out to be negative in all regressions for nine major industrialized nations. This paper demonstrates that under the expectations theory, the sampling distribution of the regression estimator of this coefficient is upward-biased relative to unity and strongly skewed to the right. The likelihood of negative values is essentially zero. Thus, the estimator is biased in a direction opposite to what is observed. Since the observed estimates lie far out in the thin left-hand tail of the estimator's sampling distribution, the evidence against the hypothesis of unbiased forward rates is much stronger than previously believed.     

Cryptocurrencies and stock market indices. Are they related?

In this paper, we investigate the stochastic properties of six major cryptocurrencies and their bilateral linkages with six stock market indices using fractional integration techniques. From the univariate analysis, we observe that for Bitcoin and Ethereum, the unit root null hypothesis cannot be rejected; for Litecoin, Ripple and Stellar, the order of integration is found to be significantly higher than 1; for Tether, however, we find evidence in favour of mean reversion. For the stock market indices, the results are more homogeneous and the unit root cannot be rejected in any of the series, with the exception of VIX where mean reversion is obtained. Concerning bivariate results within the cryptocurrencies and testing for cointegration, we provide evidence of no cointegration between the six cryptocurrencies. Along the same lines, testing for cointegration between the cryptocurrencies and the stock market indices, we find evidence of no cointegration, which implies that the cryptocurrencies are decoupled from the mainstream financial and economic assets. The findings in this paper indicate the significant role of cryptocurrencies in investor portfolios since they serve as a diversification option for investors, confirming that cryptocurrency is a new investment asset class.