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The PPP approach revisited: A study of RMB valuation against the USD

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  • Almås, Ingvild
  • Grewal, Mandeep
  • Hvide, Marielle
  • Ugurlu, Serhat

Abstract

We analyze the alleged undervaluation of the Chinese renminbi against the US dollar through an application of the relative PPP hypothesis, the PPP approach. The PPP approach measures the relative misalignment of a currency by estimating the relationship between log price levels and log per capita real incomes from a cross section of countries. We estimate this relationship by using ICP 2011 and incorporating model selection tests. Our results confirm that price level-real income relationship is best approximated by a quadratic functional form. We show that, using this functional form, the PPP approach does not reveal any evidence of renminbi undervaluation as of 2011, and this result is robust to various sensitivity tests.

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  • Almås, Ingvild & Grewal, Mandeep & Hvide, Marielle & Ugurlu, Serhat, 2017. "The PPP approach revisited: A study of RMB valuation against the USD," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 18-38.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jimfin:v:77:y:2017:i:c:p:18-38
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jimonfin.2017.06.006
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    Cited by:

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    2. 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).
    3. Yin-Wong Cheung & Sven Steinkamp & Frank Westermann, 2020. "A Tale of Two Surplus Countries: China and Germany," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 31(1), pages 131-158, February.
    4. Yin-Wong Cheung & Shi He, 2019. "Truths and Myths About RMB Misalignment: A Meta-analysis," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 61(3), pages 464-492, September.
    5. Yin‐Wong Cheung & Shi He, 2022. "RMB misalignment: What does a meta‐analysis tell us?," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 1038-1086, September.
    6. repec:zbw:bofitp:2019_003 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Imai, Hiroyuki, 2018. "China’s rapid growth and real exchange rate appreciation: Measuring the Balassa-Samuelson effect," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 39-52.
    8. Yin-Wong Cheung & Shi He, 2019. "Truths and Myths About RMB Misalignment: A Meta-analysis," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 61(3), pages 464-492, September.
    9. Gao, Yichen & Li, Hongjun & Li, Qi, 2022. "The misalignments in Chinese real effective exchange rate from 1994 to 2020: A counterfactual analysis," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Renminbi; Currency misalignment; Penn effect;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F31 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - Foreign Exchange
    • F41 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - Open Economy Macroeconomics

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