Exchange-Rate Adjustments and The Balance of Payments
Exchange-Rate Adjustments and The Balance of Payments
Exchange-Rate Adjustments and The Balance of Payments
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The previous chapter demonstrated the disequilibrium
in the balance of trade tends to be reversed by
automatics adjustments in prices, interest rates ,and
incomes.
However ,if these adjustments are allowed to
operate ,reversing trade imbalances may come at the
expense of domestic recession or price inflation.
In stead of relying on adjustments in prices, interest
rates ,and incomes to counteract trade imbalances ,
governments permit alterations in exchange rates.
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By adopting a floating exchange-rates system, a
nation permits its currency to depreciate or appreciate in a
free market in response to shifts in either the demand for
or supply of the currency.
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Effects of Exchange-Rate Changes on Costs and
Prices (汇率变动对费用和物价的影响)
Changing exchange rates influence the
international competitiveness of a nation’s
industries through their influence on relative costs.
Case1: No foreign sourcing --- all costs are denominated
in dollars.
The dollar’s exchange value appreciates from $0.5 per
Franc to $0.25 per Franc, a 100 percent appreciation (the
franc depreciates from 2 to 4 francs per dollar).
The 100% dollar appreciation induces a 100% increase in
Nucor’s franc-denominated production cost.(See Table 5.1)
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TABLE 5.1 Effects of a dollar appreciation on a U.S. steel
firm’s production costs when all costs are dollar-
denominated
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Case2: Foreign sourcing ----some costs
denominated in dollars and some costs
denominated in francs.
Same appreciation of USD. But, Nucor’s franc cost per ton of
steel rises from 1,000 francs to 1,640 francs ---a large increase
of 64 percent. Thus ,the dollar appreciation worsens Nucor’s
competitiveness , but not as much as in the previous example.
And, the firms total cost falls from $500 to $410 per ton---a
decrease of 18 percent. This cost reduction offsets some of the
cost disadvantage that Nucor incurs relative to Swiss exporters
as a result of the dollar appreciation (franc depreciation).
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TABLE 5.2 Effects of a dollar appreciation on a U.S. steel
firm’s production costs when some costs are
dollar-denominated and other costs are franc-
denominated
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The preceding examples suggest the following generalization:
As franc-denominated costs become a larger portion of
Nucor ‘s total costs, a dollar appreciation leads to a
smaller increase in the franc cost of Nucor steel and a
larger decrease in the dollar cost of Nucor steel compared
to the cost changes that occur when all inputs are dollar-
dominated.
Changes in relative cost because of exchange-rate fluctuations
also influence relative prices and the volume of goods traded
among nations.
A dollar appreciation (depreciation) tends to raise (lower) U.S
export prices in foreign-currency terms, which induces a
decrease( an increase) in the quantity of U.S goods sold
abroad ; similarly, the dollar appreciation (depreciation) leads
to an increase(a decrease) in U.S imports.
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Cost-Cutting Strategies of Manufacturers in
response to Currency Appreciation
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Japanese Manufacturers’ Countermeasures
From 1990-96, Yen appreciated 40% to U.S. dollar.
1. Japanese firms remained competitive by using the yen’s
strength to cheaply establish integrated manufacturing bases
in the United States and in dollars-linked Asia.
11
FIGURE 5.1 Coping with the yen’s appreciation: Hitachi’s
geographic diversification as a manufacturer of
television sets
Hitachi’s global diversification permitted it to sell TVs in the United States without raising prices as
the yen appreciated against the dollar.
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U.S Manufacturers’ Countermeasures
From 1996-2002, U.S. dollar appreciated by 22% to the
main partners’ currencies.
1. Sharing the benefits of having a nation’s production base
without having to take on the risks of building its own
factory there, such as American Feed Company’s deal
with Spain’s manufacturing company.
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Will Currency Depreciation Reduce a Trade Deficit?
The Elasticity Approach
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Elasticity of demand refers to the
responsiveness of buyers to changes in price.
Elasticity is the ratio of the percentage
Q P
Elasticity
change in the quantity demanded to the
Q P
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TABLE 5.4 Long-term price elasticities of demand for total
imports and exports of selected countries
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J-curve effect: Time Path of Depreciation
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FIGURE 5.3 Time path of U.S. balance of trade (billions of dollars)
in response to dollar appreciation and depreciation
Between 1980 and 1987, the U.S. merchandise trade deficit expanded at a rapid rate. The trade deficit decreased
substantially between 1988 and 1991. The rapid increase in the trade deficit that took place during the early
1980s occurred mainly because of the appreciation of the dollar at the time, which resulted in a steady increase in
imports and a drop in U.S. exports. The depreciation of the dollar that began in 1985 led to a boom in exports in
1988 and a drop in the trade deficit through 1991.
23
Empirical evidence suggests that the trade-
balance effects of currency depreciation do
not materialize until years afterward.
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Complete pass-through
Complete pass-through exists: import prices in dollars
rise by the full proportion of the dollar depreciation.
To illustrate the calculation of complete currency pass-through, assume that
Caterpillar charges $50,000 for a tractor exported to Japan. If the exchange
rate is 150 yen per U.S. dollar, the price paid by the Japanese buyer will be
7,500,000 yen.
Assuming the dollar price of tractor remains constant, a 10% appreciation in
the dollar’s exchange value will increase the tractor’s yen price 10%, to
8,250,000 yen (165*50,000=8,250,000). Conversely, if the dollar
depreciates by 10%, the yen price of the tractor will fall by 10%, to 6,750,000
(135*50,000= 6,750,000 ) .
So long as Caterpillar keeps the dollar price if its tractor constant, changes in
the dollar’s exchange rate will be fully reflected in changes in the foreign-
currency price of exports. The ratio of changes in the foreign-currency will be
100%, implying complete currency pass-through.
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Partial Exchange Rate Pass-Through
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For example, the exchange rate pass-through for the United
States over this period was 0.42. This rate means that a 1%
change in the dollar’s exchange rate produced a 0.42%
change in U.S. import prices.
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TABLE 5.6 Use of the U.S. dollar in export and import
invoicing, 2002–2004
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Why does exchange rate pass-through
tend to be partial?
The answer appears to lie in invoicing practices,
market-share considerations, and distribution
costs.
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1. Invoice Practices
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The dominant use of dollars invoicing U.S. trade helps explain
the partial pass-through of changes in the dollar’s exchange rate
to the U.S. import prices. When foreign producers invoice their
exports to the United States in dollars, the price of these goods
remains fixed in terms of the dollar if the dollar depreciates
against other currencies.
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2. Market Share Considerations
In practice, many goods and services are produced in imperfectly
competitive markets. In terms of prices for these goods, firms are able to
make a profit margin over costs. Firms may choose not to pass on the full
change in costs bought about by changing exchange rats and instead choose
to change their profit margins, thus reducing the sensitivity of consumer
prices to the exchange rate. Therefore, exports to the United States may
accept a lower profit margin when their currency appreciates in order to keep
their dollar prices constant against American competitors. This is especially for
the United States that has a very large market and where imports command a
lower share of consumption than do in smaller markets. Because American
consumers can generally substitute domestic goods for imports, foreign
exports are reluctant to pass all of the exchange rate movement into prices
because of fear of losing market share.
For example, in 1996, a Barbie doll shipped from China to the United
States cost about $2, where it sold about $10. The manufacturer, Mattel,
earned about $1 of profit on this doll. The remaining $7 represented
payments for transportation in the United States and other marketing
and distribution costs. For the United States, distribution costs average
about 40% of overall consumer prices. Because domestic distribution
services are not traded internationally, their costs are not affected by
fluctuations in the dollar’s exchange rate.
Therefore, as distribution costs become a large
percentage of the consumer price, the sensitivity of the
consumer price to exchange-rate fluctuations is
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The Absorption Approach To Currency
Depreciation
According to the elasticity approach, currency
depreciation offers a price incentive to reduce imports
and increase exports. But even if elasticity conditions
are favorable, whether the home country’s trade
balance will actually improve may depend on how the
economy reacts to the depreciation.
The adsorption approach provides insights into
this question by considering the impact of
depreciation on the spending behavior of the
domestic economy and the influence of domestic
spending on the trade balance.
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The Absorption Approach to Currency Depreciation
The absorption approach starts with the idea
that the value of total domestic output
( Y ) equals the level of total spending.
Total spending consists of consumption (C),
investment ( I ) , government (G), and the
net exports ( X—M ) .
This relation can be written as follows:
Y=C+I+G+(X—M)
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The absorption approach then consolidates
C+I+G into a single term A, which is
referred to as absorption, and designates net
exports ( X—M ) as B. Total domestic
output thus the sum of absorption plus net
exports: Y=A+B
This can be written as follows: B=Y—A
This expression suggests that the balance of trade
( B ) equals the difference between total
domestic output (Y) and the level of absorption
(A). If national output exceeds domestic
absorption, the economy’s is spending beyond its
ability to produce.
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For example, domestic policy-makers could
decrease absorption by adopting restrictive
fiscal and monetary policies in the face of
higher prices resulting from the deprecation.
But this decrease would result in sacrifice on
the part of those who bear the burden of such
measures. Currency depreciation may thus
be considered inappropriate when an
economy is operating at maximum capacity.
The absorption approach goes beyond the
elasticity approach, which views the
economy’s trade balance as distinct from the
rest of the economy. Instead, currency
depreciation is viewed in relation to the
economy’s utilization of its resources and
level of production. The two approach are
therefore complementary.
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The Monetary Approach to Currency depreciation
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The elasticity and absorption approaches
apply only to the trade account of the balance
of payments, neglecting the implications of
capital movements. The monetary approach
to depreciation addresses this shortcoming.