Fear of Appreciation

Levy-Yeyati, Eduardo and Sturzenegger, Federico and Gluzmann, Pablo (2007): Fear of Appreciation. Forthcoming in: Journal of development economics

Abstract

In recent years the term “fear of floating” has been used to describe exchange rate regimes that, while officially flexible, in practice intervene heavily to avoid sudden or large depreciations. However, the data reveals that in most cases (and increasingly so in the 2000s) intervention has been aimed at limiting appreciations rather than depreciations, often motivated by the neomercantilist view of a depreciated real exchange rate as protection for domestic industries. As a first step to address the broader question of whether this view delivers on its promise, we examine whether this “fear of appreciation” has a positive impact on growth performance in developing economies. We show that depreciated exchange rates indeed lead to higher growth, but that the effect, rather than through import substitution or export booms as argued by the mercantilist view, works largely through the deepening of domestic savings and capital accumulation.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: exchange rate regimes, fear of floating, economic growth, real exchange rates
• Subjects: F - International Economics > F3 - International Finance > F33 - International Monetary Arrangements and Institutions; F - International Economics > F3 - International Finance > F31 - Foreign Exchange; F - International Economics > F3 - International Finance > F36 - Financial Aspects of Economic Integration

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