Accounting for Real Exchange Rate Changes in East Asia

Abstract:     
This study measures the proportion of real exchange rate movements that can be accounted for by movements in the relative price of non-traded goods using the framework employed by Engel (1999). Among the twenty-one bilateral Asian-Pacific real exchange rates considered here, that proportion is found to be trivially small for all possible horizons that the data allow - from one month up to 25 years. This pattern appears unaffected by the cross-sectional variation in either income level, or the degree of openness present among these Pacific-Rim economies. The only qualifications occur when considering fixed (or semi-fixed) exchange rate regimes.

Keywords: Real Exchange Rate, MSE, Decomposition

JEL Classifications: F3, F4

Working Paper Series