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Currency Undervaluation and Sovereign Wealth Funds: A New Role for the World Trade Organization

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Author Info
Aaditya Mattoo
Arvind Subramanian

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Abstract

Two aspects of global imbalances - undervalued exchange rates and sovereign wealth funds - require a multilateral response. For reasons of inadequate leverage and eroding legitimacy, the International Monetary Fund has not been effective in dealing with undervalued exchange rates. This paper proposes new rules in the World Trade Organization to discipline cases of significant undervaluation that are clearly attributable to government action. The rationale for WTO involvement is that there are large trade consequences of undervalued exchange rates, which act as both import tariffs and export subsidies, and that the WTO's enforcement mechanism is credible and effective. The World Trade Organization would not be involved in exchange rate management, and would not displace the International Monetary Fund. Rather, the authors suggest ways to harness the comparative advantage of the two institutions, with the International Monetary Fund providing the essential technical expertise in the World Trade Organization's enforcement process. There is a bargain to be struck between countries with sovereign wealth funds, which want secure and liberal access for their capital, and capital-importing countries, which have concerns about the objectives and operations of sovereign wealth funds. The World Trade Organization is the natural place to strike this bargain. Its General Agreement on Trade in Services already covers investments by sovereign wealth funds, and other agreements offer a precedent for designing disciplines for these funds. Placing exchange rates and sovereign wealth funds on the trade negotiating agenda may help revive the Doha Round by rekindling the interest of a wide variety of groups. Copyright 2009 The Authors. Journal compilation 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

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Article provided by Blackwell Publishing in its journal World Economy.

Volume (Year): 32 (2009)
Issue (Month): 8 (08)
Pages: 1135-1164
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Handle: RePEc:bla:worlde:v:32:y:2009:i:8:p:1135-1164

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Anderson, Kym & Martin, Will & van der Mensbrugghe, Dominique, 2005. "Distortions to world trade: impacts on agricultural markets and farm incomes," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3736, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
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  2. Aaditya Mattoo & Arvind Subramanian, 2004. "The WTO and the Poorest Countries: The Stark Reality," IMF Working Papers 04/81, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
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  3. Eswar S. Prasad & Raghuram G. Rajan & Arvind Subramanian, 2007. "Foreign Capital and Economic Growth," IZA Discussion Papers 3186, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Timilsina, Govinda R. & Shrestha, Ashish, 2008. "The growth of transport cector CO2 emissions and underlying factors in Latin America and the Caribbean," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4734, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  2. Freund, Caroline & Pierola, Martha Denisse, 2008. "Export surges : the oower of a competitive currency," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4750, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  3. Mattoo, Aaditya & Subramanian, Arvind, 2008. "Multilateralism beyond Doha," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4735, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Robert W. Staiger & Alan O. Sykes, 2008. ""Currency Manipulation" and World Trade," NBER Working Papers 14600, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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This page was last updated on 2009-11-22.

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