China's Capital Flight: Pre- and Post-Crisis Experiences

41 Pages Posted: 24 Nov 2015

See all articles by Yin-Wong Cheung

Yin-Wong Cheung

University of California, Santa Cruz - Department of Economics

Sven Steinkamp

Universität Osnabrück - Institute of Empirical Economic Research

Frank Westermann

University of Osnabrueck - Department of Economics; CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute); CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute) - Ifo Institute

Date Written: October 29, 2015

Abstract

We study China’s illicit capital flow and document a change in its pattern. Specifically, we observe that China’s capital flight, especially the one measured by trade misinvoicing, exhibits a weakened response in the post-2007 period to the covered interest disparity, which is a theoretical determinant of capital flight. Further analyses indicate that the post-2007 behavior is influenced by quantitative easing and other factors including exchange rate variability, capital control policy and trade frictions. Our study confirms that China’s capital flight pattern and its determinants are affected by the crisis event. Further, both the canonical and additional explanatory variables have different effects on different measures of capital flight. These results highlight the challenges of managing China’s capital flight, which requires information on the period and the type of capital flight that the policy authorities would like to target.

Keywords: world bank residual method, trade misinvoicing, quantitative easing, capital controls, covered interest disparity

JEL Classification: F300, F320, G150

Suggested Citation

Cheung, Yin-Wong and Steinkamp, Sven and Westermann, Frank, China's Capital Flight: Pre- and Post-Crisis Experiences (October 29, 2015). CESifo Working Paper Series No. 5584, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2694475 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2694475

Yin-Wong Cheung

University of California, Santa Cruz - Department of Economics ( email )

Engineering 2, Department of Economics
University of California
Santa Cruz, CA 95064
United States
831-459-5077 (Fax)

Sven Steinkamp

Universität Osnabrück - Institute of Empirical Economic Research ( email )

Barbarastr. 12
Osnabrueck, 49076
Germany

Frank Westermann (Contact Author)

University of Osnabrueck - Department of Economics ( email )

Rolandstr. 8
Osnabrueck, D-49069
Germany

CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

Poschinger Str. 5
Munich, DE-81679
Germany

CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute) - Ifo Institute ( email )

Poschinger Str. 5
Munich, 01069
Germany

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