The monetarist explanation of inflation: The experience of six Asian countries

Studies on inflation, employing the Harberger-type monetarist model, have focused almost entirely on the hogh inflation experiences, usually those of Latin American countries. This model is applied here to the six Asian countries, which contain low and moderate inflation cases. The empirical results show that the growth of money stock was not the primary source of inflation in these countries. The failure of the monetarist model to explain the behavior of prices in Asian countries may be due (1) partly to the monetization of these economies which makes the growth of money stock endogenous, and (2) partly to its rigid specification which excludes the impact of the various domestic and external cost pressures. To test the validity of the latter proposition, the monetarist model is augmented by the inclusion of import prices which are widely alleged to have intensified inflationary pressures. The empirical results do indeed provide support for this view. As regards monetary policy the findings of this paper suggest that monetary discipline may be, by and large, ineffective in controlling inflation in moderate inflation countries.