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Collateral Damage: Exchange Controls and International Trade

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Author Info
Shang-Jin Wei
Zhiwei Zhang

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Abstract

While new conventional wisdom warns that developing countries should be aware of the risks of premature capital account liberalization, the costs of not removing exchange controls have received much less attention. This paper investigates the negative effects of exchange controls on trade. To minimize evasion of controls, countries often intensify inspections at the border and increase documentation requirements. Thus, the cost of conducting trade rises. The paper finds that a one standard-deviation increase in the controls on trade payment has the same negative effect on trade as an increase in tariff by about 14 percentage points. A one standard-deviation increase in the controls on FX transactions reduces trade by the same amount as a rise in tariff by 11 percentage points. Therefore, the collateral damage in terms of foregone trade is sizable.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 13020.

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Date of creation: Apr 2007
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:13020

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
F1 - International Economics - - Trade
F31 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - Foreign Exchange
F36 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - Financial Aspects of Economic Integration

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References listed on IDEAS
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  1. M. Ayhan Kose & Eswar Prasad & Kenneth S. Rogoff & Shang-Jin Wei, 2006. "Financial Globalization: A Reappraisal," NBER Working Papers 12484, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  2. Simon Johnson & Todd Mitton & Kalpana Kochhar & Natalia T. Tamirisa, 2006. "Malaysian Capital Controls: Macroeconomics and Institutions," IMF Working Papers 06/51, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
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  3. Wei, S.J. & Frankel, J.A., 1992. "Yen Bloc or Dollar Bloc: Exchange Rate Policies of the East Asian Economies," Papers 92-08, University of Birmingham - International Financial Group.
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  4. Kenneth Rogoff & M. Ayhan Kose & Eswar Prasad & Shang-Jin Wei, 2004. "Effects on Financial Globalization on Developing Countries: Some Empirical Evidence," IMF Occasional Papers 220, International Monetary Fund.
  5. James E. Anderson & Eric van Wincoop, 2003. "Gravity with Gravitas: A Solution to the Border Puzzle," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(1), pages 170-192, March. [Downloadable!]
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  6. Elhanan Helpman & Marc Melitz & Yona Rubinstein, 2006. "Trading Partners and Trading Volumes," DEGIT Conference Papers c011_022, DEGIT, Dynamics, Economic Growth, and International Trade. [Downloadable!]
  7. Forbes, Kristin J., 2003. "One Cost of the Chilean Capital Controls: Increased Financial Constraints for Smaller Traded Firms," Working papers 4273-02, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management. [Downloadable!]
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  8. Joshua Aizenman, 2003. "On the Hidden Links Between Financial and Trade Opening," NBER Working Papers 9906, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  9. Andrew K. Rose, 2004. "Do We Really Know That the WTO Increases Trade?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(1), pages 98-114, March. [Downloadable!]
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  10. Subramanian, Arvind & Wei, Shang-Jin, 2007. "The WTO promotes trade, strongly but unevenly," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(1), pages 151-175, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  11. Natalia T. Tamirisa, 1998. "Exchange and Capital Controls as Barriers to Trade," IMF Working Papers 98/81, International Monetary Fund.
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Cited by:
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  1. Azim M. Sadikov, 2007. "Border and Behind-the-Border Trade Barriers and Country Exports," IMF Working Papers 07/292, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
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