Valuation effects with transitory and trend productivity shocks

Changes in asset prices of a country's foreign assets and liabilities (“valuation effects”) are commonly thought of as stabilizing: they counteract current account movements and mitigate the impact of the current account on the country's net foreign asset (NFA) position. This paper shows that whether valuation effects are stabilizing or not depends critically on the nature of the underlying productivity shocks. In response to transitory shocks, valuation effects are stabilizing; but in response to trend shocks, such effects amplify the impact of the current account on NFA position. These contrasting effects arise because optimally smoothing consumers respond differently to a transitory shock than to a trend shock to income. This theoretical result finds empirical support with G7 countries' data, and is illustrated by the pattern of external imbalances between the U.S. and other G7 countries since the 1990s.     

Borrowing Without Debt? Understanding the U.S. International Investment Position

Sustained large U.S. current account deficits have led some economists and policymakers to worry that future current account adjustment could occur through a sudden and disruptive depreciation of the dollar and a sharp drop in U.S. consumption. Two factors that, to date, have cast doubt on such concerns are the stability of U.S. net external liabilities and the minimal net income payments made by the United States on these liabilities. We show that the stability of the external position reflects sizable capital gains stemming from strong foreign equity markets and a weaker dollar—conditions that could be reversed in the future. We also show that while minimal U.S. net income payments reflect a much higher measured rate of return on U.S. foreign direct investment (FDI) assets than on U.S. FDI liabilities, JEL Classification F21     

Oil shocks and external balances

We provide estimates of the effects of demand and supply shocks in the global crude oil market on several measures of oil exporters' and oil importers' external balances, including the oil trade balance, the non-oil trade balance, the current account, capital gains, and changes in net foreign assets (NFA). First, we show that the effect of oil demand and supply shocks on the merchandise trade balance and the current account, which depending on the source of the shock can be large, depends critically on the response of the non-oil trade balance. Our results provide evidence of an intermediate degree of international financial integration. Second, we document the presence of large and systematic valuation effects in response to these shocks. Valuation effects overall tend to cushion the effect of oil demand and supply shocks on the NFA positions of oil exporters and oil importers. Third, we quantify the overall importance of global business cycle demand shocks as well as oil-market specific demand and supply shocks for external balances.     

Exchange rate regime and external adjustment: An empirical investigation for the US

This paper analyses the relationship between the US net external position and the exchange rate regime. I find a structural break in the US net external position at the end of the Bretton Woods system of fixed exchange rates that changed both the mean and variance of the series. On average, the US changed from a creditor to a debtor position and the variance of the external position increased during the floating period. This increase is to a large extent due to the valuation component of external adjustment that accounts for 54% of the variance of the US external position during the floating period but only 29% during the fixed exchange rate period. Further analysis shows that the exchange rate regime mainly affects the valuation channel of external adjustment. There is also evidence of another structural break in the US external position around the time of the introduction of the euro. Finally, I document asset pricing implications from the relationship between the exchange rate regime and the external adjustment process, as external imbalances predict the foreign exchange once the exchange rate regime is taken into account.     

Movies and the Mystery of the Missing Trade: Is Hollywood Good for U.S. Exporters?

Research has shown that consumers have a preference for goods based on the origin of production. This is important because it suggests that, in some cases, even lowering trade barriers may not significantly increase trade flows. In particular, flows may be lower than are predicted by trade theories such as Heckscher-Ohlin. Despite evidence that home consumption bias exists in many countries, it is only recently that research has begun to examine the sources of this bias.

This article fills a gap in the literature by testing a model that addresses the source of this consumption bias. The paper's model incorporates consumers' exposure to foreign products and culture through media imports and tourist visits as factors affecting consumers' preferences for foreign products. Using panel data from 19 countries, the article's results support the hypothesis that lagged exports of U.S. movies have a positive impact on other U.S. exports. Some evidence is also found of a positive effect of tourist visits on U.S. exports.

Since U.S. media exports may generate demand for other U.S. goods and services, opening up foreign media markets should receive a higher priority in U.S. trade negotiations. Another interesting implication of the paper is that overall U.S. export losses resulting from media piracy may be lower than previously calculated, as the consumption of pirated media products may increase demand for other U.S. exports.     

Home bias and high turnover: Dynamic portfolio choice with incomplete markets

Why do investors trade a lot in foreign assets and hold so little of them in their portfolios? This paper shows that both observations can arise naturally in the presence of nondiversifiable nontraded consumption risk when each country specializes in production, preferences exhibit consumption home bias, and asset markets are incomplete. Using a general equilibrium two-country, two-sector (tradable and nontradable) model of the world economy with production I show that low diversification occurs because variations in relative prices (i) increase the riskiness of foreign assets and (ii) facilitate risk-sharing across countries. Large and volatile capital flows are necessary to take advantage of international risk premia differentials that occur in response to productivity changes in the nontradable sector. I characterize the optimal portfolio holdings, the evolution of the investment opportunity set, the risk premium, and the dynamics of capital flows using a new methodology for solving dynamic general equilibrium models with incomplete markets and portfolio choice.     

AGGREGATE SUPPLY,DOMESTIC ABSORPTION,AND TERMS OF TRADE: A STRUCTURAL DECOMPOSITION OF THE U.S. TRADE BALANCE

Using an intertemporal model as a reference, this article decomposes U.S. trade balance movements into parts driven by supply shocks, demand shocks, and relative price shocks. In identifying structural shocks, we propose a new type of long-run restriction that extends the previous structural Vector Autoregression (VAR) literature, and demonstrate its relationship to other identifying schemes. Empirical results indicate that relative price shocks and demand shocks are important in the short run while demand and supply shocks dominate in the long run in explaining the U.S. trade balance.     

The Valuation of Hidden Assets in Foreign Transactions: Why “Dark Matter” Matters

This paper clarifies how the valuation of hidden assets— what we call “dark matter”—changes our assessment of the U.S. external imbalance. Dark matter assets are defined as the capitalized value of the return privilege obtained by U.S. assets. Because this return privilege has been steady over recent decades, it is likely to persist in the future or even to increase, as it becomes leveraged by an increasingly globalized world. Once this is included in future projections of U.S. current accounts, the U.S. external position looks much more balanced than depicted in official statistics. JEL Classification F21     

全球经济危机对我国出口贸易的影响

首先定性地分析了发达国家的经济发展和我国出口贸易十多年的走势,探究不同时期两者之间的变化是否趋同;然后选取美国、欧元区的国内GDP和商品相对价格指标,建立这两个因素对我国的出口贸易的影响程度的计量方程;随后,建立两个不同的VAR模型,第一个模型考察我国出口贸易和美、欧实体经济间的长期协整关系,运用脉冲响应函数分析外部冲击的滞后效应;针对当前金融危机造成货币紧缩,各国均采取一系列的刺激经济恢复的手段,在第二个VAR模型中,选取了较为代表性的外部因素——欧美的信贷政策和居民消费,以及作为国际资本流动因素的我国FDI,并运用脉冲响应函数考察这些政策因素对我国出口贸易产生的长期影响。最后根据实证结论提出政策建议。     

Political Connections,Government Intervention and Acquirer Performance in Cross‐border Mergers and Acquisitions: an Empirical Analysis Based on Chinese Acquirers

The extant literature suggests that the political connections enjoyed by Chinese acquiring firms have both positive and negative effects on their performance in cross‐border mergers and acquisitions (CBMA). We employed firm‐level data on Chinese acquirers from 2001 to 2012, demonstrating that the effect of political connections on mergers and acquisitions performance is determined by external government intervention. Holding the level of political connections constant, the greater the degree of government intervention is, the worse the acquirer's performance in cross‐border mergers and acquisitions will be. We also demonstrated that political connections affect acquirer performance in cross‐border mergers and acquisitions through the channel of preferential access to bank financing, and the acquiring firms' high cash holdings, which are encouraged by the ease of bank financing, have a negative effect on acquirer CBMA performance. Using the Blinder‐Oaxaca decomposition, we investigated changes in the Chinese acquirers' performance following changes in the external policy environment in 2008 and the effect of political connections and other factors on this change.     

CHANGING PATTERNS OF REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE: The Case of Canada Under NAFTA

Recently, the issue of regional and international trade flows has attracted increased attention. Papers by Helliwell and McCallum have stressed the importance of national borders in determining the nature of Canadian economic activity even when adjustments are made for distance and trade barriers. This article, using Provincial Economic Accounts data, estimates an almost ideal demand system to explain the interprovincial and international flow of goods, accounting for changes in relative prices and other factors that have arisen since the formation of NAFTA. The results allow conclusions to be drawn with respect to the importance of geographical proximity to the U.S. border, the influence of price and income elasticities, and the nature of the industrial/resource endowment mix of the province. The relevant elasticities allow for the examination changes to the internal and external trade patterns and to the differences which have developed in the various regions of Canada.     

Decreasing Marginal Impatience and Capital Accumulation in a Two‐Country World Economy

This research is the first to examine dynamic general equilibrium in a growing two‐country economy under decreasing marginal impatience (DMI). The stability condition is shown to be more restrictive than in the case of an endowment economy and/or under increasing marginal impatience (IMI). By analyzing global‐economy adjustment to time preference shocks, international transfers and productivity shocks, equilibrium dynamics in the presence of DMI differ drastically from what is obtained when the standard IMI model is used. For example, in a country characterized by DMI, a positive productivity shock improves the country's welfare level and lowers its steady‐state time preference and, hence, the steady‐state interest rate. This leads to an increase in the neighbouring country's capital stock.     

The Effect of the Chinese Economy on Mexican Maquiladora Employment

During the last five years the maquiladora industry of Mexico has seen a slowing of the rapid growth experienced during the 1990s. The maquiladora expansion has been linked to U.S. foreign direct investment. Additionally, China has become a major receptor of U.S. investment for the production and export of manufacturing goods. This study estimates the impact of the industrial activity of the United States and China on employment demand in the maquiladora industry of the northern border states of Mexico. Using data on industrial activity, real hourly wages, and the real exchange rate as a proxy of Mexican competitiveness, a bounds test cointegration analysis is developed. The results show that the variables affecting external demand have impacted the maquiladora employment trend negatively, while wage differentials and the exchange rate tend to encourage maquiladora activity.     

美元特权对美国贸易逆差的影响探析

美元特权的形成使贸易逆差成为输出美元的主要途径,并对贸易逆差起到了助长作用,集中表现在美元特权使美国维持着巨额贸易逆差而不受外汇储备短缺的制约和金融危机的威胁,却使其他追求美元储备的国家依靠贸易顺差和过度储蓄来摆脱不利处境,从而从供给和需求两个方面推动了美国贸易逆差的持续扩大。但贸易逆差的继续发展和未来的调整势必会影响美元特权地位的巩固,使世界经济特别是发展中国家的国际经济活动面临极大的风险。     

Macroeconomic interdependence under incomplete markets

This paper uses a two-country, flexible-price model with overlapping generations of infinitely lived households to study the role of net foreign asset dynamics in the propagation of productivity shocks. Absence of Ricardian equivalence ensures existence of a unique steady-state level of net foreign assets, to which the economy returns following temporary shocks. Model dynamics are significantly different from those of a setup in which terms of trade movements perform all the international adjustment and net foreign assets do not move. The difference relative to a complete markets economy in which net foreign asset movements play no role in shock transmission is smaller. It is amplified if the substitutability across goods rises and if shocks are permanent.     

Endogenous discounting, the world saving glut and the U.S. current account

We study the evolution of the U.S. current account in a two-country dynamic stochastic endowment model in which a single non-state contingent bond is the only internationally traded asset. The paper focuses on the world ‘saving glut’ as the primary cause of continual deterioration in the current account and departs from the standard framework by introducing a three-parameter model of the subjective discount factor that depends on societal (per capita) variables that are external to household choices. When agents in the model are presented with U.S. and rest-of-world endowment data as the realization of the exogenous state vector, endogenously driven short-run international differences in subjective discounting that display increasing relative U.S. impatience create saving and current account imbalances that matches patterns observed in the data.     

Accounting for sources of risk in international portfolio diversification

The objective of this paper is to develop an analytical method of disentangling the distinct components of the risk to a U.S. investor of his holdings of foriegn assets. The paper will identify the specific mechanism by which the insular risk of the foreign asset combines with the exchange-rate risk to determine the riskiness of the net return expressed in dollars. It is shown that the usual accounting method of estimating the net return to be expected leads to a biased estimate of that parameter. The paper suggests practical applications of the analytical results in the context of portfolio optimization.     

美中贸易逆差的根源与实证分析

后金融危机时代,美中贸易逆差成为人们关注的焦点。美中贸易逆差根源在于美国自身的经济结构问题,是国际产业分工深化和美国自身产业结构调整的结果,并非汇率问题,即人民币升值不能解决美中贸易逆差问题。文章通过实证分析得出,(1)美国贸易逆差与美国制造业对外直接投资存在正向的长期均衡关系,两者存在格兰杰因果关系,说明美国货物贸易逆差的扩大与制造业对外直接投资有关。(2)美国对华贸易逆差与美国对华直接投资存在正向的长期均衡关系,两者同时存在格兰杰因果关系,即美中贸易逆差随着美国对华直接投资的增加而不断扩大。     

国际政治经济视角下美国对外贸易政策的分析

美国是当今世界贸易大国,它的对外贸易政策对我国经济发展有举足轻重的影响。深刻理解美国对外贸易政策有着重要意义。本文从美国的全球战略、政治因素和国际政治经济因素三个角度分析了美国对外贸易政策的本质,从而得出结论,美国对外贸易政策的目的是实现美国的国家利益。     

Financial integration and the wealth effect of exchange rate fluctuations

Recent years have witnessed a large increase in international financial integration in the form of largely offsetting cross-holdings across countries. We assess how such financial leverage affects the international transmission of monetary shocks, and find that it leads to sizable welfare differentials that far exceed the impact due to nominal rigidities. We document the relevance of the exact nature of holdings, with bond holdings associated with larger effects than equity holdings. The impact of financial leverage on welfare is also sensitive to the extent of exchange rate pass-through and the substitutability between goods produced in different countries.