Corporate Social Responsibility as a Signalling Device for Foreign Direct Investment

A rise in CSR (corporate social responsibility) has accompanied rise in foreign direct investment (FDI) to developing countries in the 1990s. CSR may be serving a signalling function when the entering firm is of an unknown type. Although countries are now competing keenly to attract foreign firms, even so, excessive tax or excess transfers by firms can still cause a Prisoner’s Dilemma structure to the payoffs resulting in an inefficient Nash equilibrium. CSR allows the accommodating firm to reveal its type, making cooperation the equilibrium outcome. The game differs from standard models since signalling changes the payoffs. A unique separating equilibrium exists where only the accommodating firms signal. But, under certain parameter values, a pooling equilibrium where all firms signal, becomes possible. A number of results are derived including the size of CSR expenditure required as a fraction of profits. An example demonstrates their relevance in practical situations.     

The Indian exchange rate and Central Bank action: An EGARCH analysis

We analyze the impact of conventional monetary policy measures such as interest rates, intervention, and other quantitative measures, on exchange rate level and volatility, and compare these to the impact of Central Bank communication using dummy variables in the best of a family of GARCH models estimated with daily and monthly Indian data. Since India has a managed float, we also test if the measures affect the level of the exchange rate. We find variations in the Euro/Dollar rate strongly affect the Rupee/Dollar level and volatility. The interest rate differential has strong perverse effects, tending to increase variance and depreciate the Indian currency. News decreases volatility as it adds to scarce information. Domestic policy variables affect both level and volatility, and persist at the monthly frequency, but sometimes work at cross-purposes. Communication channels have potential but were not used effectively.     

The Impact of Structure and Openness on The Causal Ordering Of Interest,Inflation and Exchange Rates

Journal of Quantitative Economics - In a country with a very large population at low per capita income, the interaction between the price of food and wages is a major determinant of inflation. But,...     

A general equilibrium open economy model for emerging markets: Monetary policy with a dualistic labor market

An optimizing model of a small open emerging market economy (SOEME) with dualistic labor markets and two types of consumers, delivers a tractable model for monetary policy. Differences between the SOEME and the SOE are derived. Parameters depend on features of the labor market and on consumption inequality, and affect the natural interest rate, terms of trade and potential output. The supply curve turns out to be flatter and more volatile, with a larger number of shift factors, including policy-determined terms of trade. A simple basic version of the model is simulated in order to compare different policy targets in response to a cost shock. Flexible domestic inflation targeting gives the lowest volatility although there are trade-offs. Exchange rate volatility is relatively lower but still makes a major contribution to controlling inflation. Flexible CPI inflation targeting performs better when combined with some kind of managed floating. Inflation targeting has to be flexible. With more backward-looking behavior the policy response to a shock is reduced.