IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ememar/v38y2019icp73-101.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The road to currency internationalization: Global perspectives and chinese experience

Author

Listed:
  • Liu, Tao
  • Wang, Xiaosong
  • Woo, Wing Thye

Abstract

This paper studies international currency use in financial transactions. A currency becomes international when it circulates outside of its issuing country, and advances to vehicle currency status if used by non-residents. With currency information from the SWIFT dataset, we estimate a gravity model to explain the geographical distribution of international currency use. A higher level of economic integration and stable macroeconomic conditions increase the international use of major currencies such as USD and EUR. Merchandise trade and portfolio investment are most helpful in increasing the direct use of currency, while foreign direct investment (FDI) has a stronger effect on promoting vehicle use. Merchandise trade improves the intensity of the global use of the Chinese renminbi (RMB), while FDI increases the number of its users. The policy effect on RMB internationalization is significant only in enhancing the intensity of direct use. Furthermore, the global use of RMB is decreasing by distance, implying that its role is more regional. We recommend outward FDI through the Belt and Road Initiative to further promote RMB internationalization.

Suggested Citation

  • Liu, Tao & Wang, Xiaosong & Woo, Wing Thye, 2019. "The road to currency internationalization: Global perspectives and chinese experience," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 73-101.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ememar:v:38:y:2019:i:c:p:73-101
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ememar.2018.11.003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1566014117304855
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ememar.2018.11.003?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chinn, Menzie D. & Ito, Hiro, 2006. "What matters for financial development? Capital controls, institutions, and interactions," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(1), pages 163-192, October.
    2. Goldberg, Linda S. & Tille, Cédric, 2016. "Micro, macro, and strategic forces in international trade invoicing: Synthesis and novel patterns," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 173-187.
    3. Krugman, Paul, 1980. "Vehicle Currencies and the Structure of International Exchange," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 12(3), pages 513-526, August.
    4. Hélène Rey, 2001. "International Trade and Currency Exchange," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 68(2), pages 443-464.
    5. Portes, Richard & Rey, Helene, 2005. "The determinants of cross-border equity flows," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(2), pages 269-296, March.
    6. Evgenia Passari & Hélène Rey, 2015. "Financial Flows and the International Monetary System," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 0(584), pages 675-698, May.
    7. Martin, Philippe & Rey, Helene, 2004. "Financial super-markets: size matters for asset trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 335-361, December.
    8. Geromichalos, Athanasios & Simonovska, Ina, 2014. "Asset liquidity and international portfolio choice," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 342-380.
    9. Bacchetta, Philippe & van Wincoop, Eric, 2005. "A theory of the currency denomination of international trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 295-319, December.
    10. Frankel, Jeffrey, 2012. "Internationalization of the RMB and Historical Precedents," Journal of Economic Integration, Center for Economic Integration, Sejong University, vol. 27, pages 329-365.
    11. He, Qing & Korhonen, Iikka & Guo, Junjie & Liu, Fangge, 2016. "The geographic distribution of international currencies and RMB internationalization," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 442-458.
    12. Meissner, Christopher M. & Oomes, Nienke, 2009. "Why do countries peg the way they peg? The determinants of anchor currency choice," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 522-547, April.
    13. Rey, Hélène, 2015. "Dilemma not Trilemma: The Global Financial Cycle and Monetary Policy Independence," CEPR Discussion Papers 10591, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    14. Anna Wong, 2007. "Measurement and Inference in International Reserve Diversification," Working Paper Series WP07-6, Peterson Institute for International Economics.
    15. Goldberg, Linda S. & Tille, Cédric, 2008. "Vehicle currency use in international trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(2), pages 177-192, December.
    16. Huang, Yiping & Wang, Daili & Fan, Gang, 2014. "Paths to a Reserve Currency: Internationalization of the Renminbi and Its Implications," ADBI Working Papers 482, Asian Development Bank Institute.
    17. Menzie Chinn & Jeffrey A. Frankel, 2007. "Will the Euro Eventually Surpass the Dollar as Leading International Reserve Currency?," NBER Chapters, in: G7 Current Account Imbalances: Sustainability and Adjustment, pages 283-338, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Barry Eichengreen & Domenico Lombardi, 2017. "RMBI or RMBR? Is the Renminbi Destined to Become a Global or Regional Currency?," Asian Economic Papers, MIT Press, vol. 16(1), pages 35-59, Winter/Sp.
    19. Kamps, Annette, 2006. "The euro as invoicing currency in international trade," Working Paper Series 665, European Central Bank.
    20. Lyons, Richard K. & Moore, Michael J., 2009. "An information approach to international currencies," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(2), pages 211-221, November.
    21. Friberg, Richard & Wilander, Fredrik, 2008. "The currency denomination of exports -- A questionnaire study," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(1), pages 54-69, May.
    22. Alan M. Taylor, 2013. "The Future of International Liquidity and the Role of China," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 25(2), pages 86-94, June.
    23. Batten, Jonathan A. & Szilagyi, Peter G., 2016. "The internationalisation of the RMB: New starts, jumps and tipping points," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 221-238.
    24. Barry Eichengreen & Livia Chiţu & Arnaud Mehl, 2016. "Stability or Upheaval? The Currency Composition of International Reserves in the Long Run," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 64(2), pages 354-380, June.
    25. Chung, Wanyu, 2016. "Imported inputs and invoicing currency choice: Theory and evidence from UK transaction data," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 237-250.
    26. Scott R. Baker & Nicholas Bloom & Steven J. Davis, 2016. "Measuring Economic Policy Uncertainty," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 131(4), pages 1593-1636.
    27. Ito, Hiro & Kawai, Masahiro, 2016. "Trade invoicing in major currencies in the 1970s–1990s: Lessons for renminbi internationalization," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 123-145.
    28. Ito, Hiroyuki & McCauley, Robert N. & Chan, Tracy, 2015. "Currency composition of reserves, trade invoicing and currency movements," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 16-29.
    29. Marc Flandreau & Clemens Jobst, 2009. "The Empirics of International Currencies: Network Externalities, History and Persistence," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 119(537), pages 643-664, April.
    30. Eichengreen, Barry, 2012. "Exorbitant Privilege: The Rise and Fall of the Dollar," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199642472.
    31. Heckman, James, 2013. "Sample selection bias as a specification error," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 31(3), pages 129-137.
    32. Zhang, Cathy, 2014. "An information-based theory of international currency," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(2), pages 286-301.
    33. Kiminori Matsuyama & Nobuhiro Kiyotaki & Akihiko Matsui, 1993. "Toward a Theory of International Currency," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 60(2), pages 283-307.
    34. repec:dau:papers:123456789/14524 is not listed on IDEAS
    35. Yu, Changhua, 2015. "Evaluating international financial integration in a center-periphery economy," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(1), pages 129-144.
    36. Meissner, Christopher M., 2005. "A new world order: explaining the international diffusion of the gold standard, 1870-1913," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(2), pages 385-406, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Wanlin Cai, 2022. "Determinants of the renminbi anchor effect: From the perspective of the belt and road initiative," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(3), pages 3421-3433, July.
    2. Chunming Shen, 2022. "Digital RMB, RMB Internationalization and Sustainable Development of the International Monetary System," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-22, May.
    3. Liu, Tao & Wang, Xiaosong & Woo, Wing Thye, 2022. "The rise of Renminbi in Asia: Evidence from Network Analysis and SWIFT dataset," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    4. Yu, Ziliang & Liu, Xiaomeng & Liu, Zhuqing & Li, Yang, 2023. "Central bank swap arrangements and exchange rate volatility: Evidence from China," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(C).
    5. Guo, Dong & Zhou, Peng, 2021. "The rise of a new anchor currency in RCEP? A tale of three currencies," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    6. Keddad, Benjamin & Sato, Kiyotaka, 2022. "The influence of the renminbi and its macroeconomic determinants: A new Chinese monetary order in Asia?," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    7. Peijie Wang & Ping Wang, 2024. "Emerging influence of the RMB on currency markets in a transpiring tri‐polar international monetary system," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(1), pages 443-464, January.
    8. Liu, Tao & Lu, Dong & Woo, Wing Thye, 2019. "Trade, finance and international currency," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 374-413.
    9. Vissa, Siva Kameswari & Thenmozhi, M., 2022. "What determines mergers and acquisitions in BRICS countries: Liquidity, exchange rate or innovation?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Liu, Tao & Wang, Xiaosong, 2016. "The Road to International Currency: Global Perspective and Chinese Experience," MPRA Paper 72877, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Liu, Tao & Lu, Dong & Woo, Wing Thye, 2019. "Trade, finance and international currency," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 374-413.
    3. Liu, Tao & Lu, Dong, 2019. "Trade, finance and endogenous invoicing currency: Theory and firm-level evidence," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 21-44.
    4. Sergey Narkevich & Pavel Trunin, 2012. "Reserve Currencies: Factors of Evolution and their Role in the World Economy," Research Paper Series, Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy, issue 162P.
    5. Liu, Tao & Lu, Dong & Zhang, Ruifeng, 2017. "Currency choice in international trade: a new monetarist approach and firm-level evidence," MPRA Paper 79149, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Daniel Gersten Reiss, 2015. "Invoice currency: Puzzling evidence and new questions from Brazil," Economia, ANPEC - Associação Nacional dos Centros de Pós-Graduação em Economia [Brazilian Association of Graduate Programs in Economics], vol. 16(2), pages 206-225.
    7. Tao Liu & Dong Lu & Liang Wang, 2023. "Hegemony or Harmony? A Unified Framework for the International Monetary System," Working Papers 202305, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Economics.
    8. Zhang, Cathy, 2014. "An information-based theory of international currency," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(2), pages 286-301.
    9. Mukhin, Dmitry, 2022. "An equilibrium model of the international price system," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 112500, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    10. Barry Eichengreen & Chitu Livia & Arnaud Mehl, 2014. "Stability or upheaval? The currency composition of international reserves in the long run," Globalization Institute Working Papers 201, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
    11. Barry Eichengreen & Livia Chiu & Arnaud Mehl, 2016. "Network effects, homogeneous goods and international currency choice: New evidence on oil markets from an older era," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 49(1), pages 173-206, February.
    12. Linda S. Goldberg, 2011. "The international role of the dollar: Does it matter if this changes?," Staff Reports 522, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    13. Reiss, Daniel Gersten, 2014. "Invoice Currency in Brazil," MPRA Paper 59412, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Liu, Tao, 2015. "Trade finance and international currency," MPRA Paper 64362, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Philipp Harms & Jakub Knaze, 2021. "Effective Exchange Rate Regimes and Inflation," Working Papers 2102, Gutenberg School of Management and Economics, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz.
    16. Kannan, Prakash, 2009. "On the welfare benefits of an international currency," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(5), pages 588-606, July.
    17. Natalie Chen & Wanyu Chung & Dennis Novy, 2022. "Vehicle Currency Pricing and Exchange Rate Pass-Through," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 20(1), pages 312-351.
    18. He, Dong & Yu, Xiangrong, 2016. "Network effects in currency internationalisation: Insights from BIS triennial surveys and implications for the renminbi," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 203-229.
    19. Ito, Hiro & McCauley, Robert N., 2020. "Currency composition of foreign exchange reserves," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    20. repec:zbw:bofitp:2015_020 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Chiţu, Livia & Eichengreen, Barry & Mehl, Arnaud, 2014. "When did the dollar overtake sterling as the leading international currency? Evidence from the bond markets," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 225-245.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    RMB internationalization; gravity model; vehicle currency; Belt and Road Initiative;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F33 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - International Monetary Arrangements and Institutions
    • F36 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - Financial Aspects of Economic Integration
    • G15 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - International Financial Markets

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ememar:v:38:y:2019:i:c:p:73-101. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/620356 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.