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Exchange Rate Models Are Not as Bad as You Think

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Author Info
Charles Engel
Nelson C. Mark
Kenneth D. West

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Abstract

Standard models of exchange rates, based on macroeconomic variables such as prices, interest rates, output, etc., are thought by many researchers to have failed empirically. We present evidence to the contrary. First, we emphasize the point that "beating a random walk" in forecasting is too strong a criterion for accepting an exchange rate model. Typically models should have low forecasting power of this type. We then propose a number of alternative ways to evaluate models. We examine in-sample fit, but emphasize the importance of the monetary policy rule, and its effects on expectations, in determining exchange rates. Next we present evidence that exchange rates incorporate news about future macroeconomic fundamentals, as the models imply. We demonstrate that the models might well be able to account for observed exchange-rate volatility. We discuss studies that examine the response of exchange rates to announcements of economic data. Then we present estimates of exchange-rate models in which expected present values of fundamentals are calculated from survey forecasts. Finally, we show that out-of-sample forecasting power of models can be increased by focusing on panel estimation and long-horizon forecasts.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 13318.

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Date of creation: Aug 2007
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:13318

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Find related papers by 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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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.:
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  2. Benigno, Gianluca & Benigno, Pierpaolo, 2008. "Exchange rate determination under interest rate rules," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(6), pages 971-993, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  5. Diebold, Francis X & Gardeazabal, Javier & Yilmaz, Kamil, 1994. " On Cointegration and Exchange Rate Dynamics," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 49(2), pages 727-35, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  6. Richard Meese & Kenneth Rogoff, 1983. "The Out-of-Sample Failure of Empirical Exchange Rate Models: Sampling Error or Misspecification?," NBER Chapters, in: Exchange Rates and International Macroeconomics, pages 67-112 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!]
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  7. Frankel, Jeffrey A. & Rose, Andrew K., 1995. "Empirical research on nominal exchange rates," Handbook of International Economics, in: G. M. Grossman & K. Rogoff (ed.), Handbook of International Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 33, pages 1689-1729 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  14. Jung, Yongseung, 2007. "Can the new open economy macroeconomic model explain exchange rate fluctuations?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(2), pages 381-408, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  17. Engel, Charles & Hamilton, James D, 1990. "Long Swings in the Dollar: Are They in the Data and Do Markets Know It?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 80(4), pages 689-713, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  19. Meese, Richard, 1990. "Currency Fluctuations in the Post-Bretton Woods Era," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 4(1), pages 117-34, Winter. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  20. Dornbusch, Rudiger, 1976. "Expectations and Exchange Rate Dynamics," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 84(6), pages 1161-76, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  23. Martin D. D. Evans & Richard K. Lyons, 2002. "Order Flow and Exchange Rate Dynamics," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 110(1), pages 170-180, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  24. Philippe Bacchetta & Eric Van Wincoop, 2006. "Can Information Heterogeneity Explain the Exchange Rate Determination Puzzle?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(3), pages 552-576, June. [Downloadable!]
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  25. Andersen, Torben G. & Bollerslev, Tim & Diebold, Francis X. & Vega, Clara, 2002. "Micro Effects of Macro Announcements: Real-Time Price Discovery in Foreign Exchange," Working Papers 02-16, Duke University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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  26. Jordi Galí & Tommaso Monacelli, 2005. "Monetary Policy and Exchange Rate Volatility in a Small Open Economy," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 72(3), pages 707-734, 07. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  27. Murray, Christian J. & Papell, David H., 2002. "The purchasing power parity persistence paradigm," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(1), pages 1-19, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  28. Benigno, Gianluca, 2004. "Real exchange rate persistence and monetary policy rules," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(3), pages 473-502, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Full references

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. Tobias Adrian & Erkko Etula & Hyun Song Shin, 2009. "Global liquidity and exchange rates," Staff Reports 361, Federal Reserve Bank of New York. [Downloadable!]
  2. Katheryn Niles Russ, 2007. "Exchange Rate Volatility and First-Time Entry by Multinational Firms," NBER Working Papers 13659, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Ardic, Oya Pinar & Ergin, Onur & Senol, G. Bahar, 2008. "Exchange Rate Forecasting: Evidence from the Emerging Central and Eastern European Economies," MPRA Paper 7505, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  4. Campbell-Pownall, R.A.J. & Koedijk, C.G. & Lothian, J.R. & Mahieu, R.J., 2007. "Irving Fisher and the UIP Puzzle: Meeting the Expectations a Century Later," Research Paper ERS-2007-088-F&A Revision, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus Uni. [Downloadable!]
  5. Kenneth Rogoff, 2009. "Exchange rates in the modern floating era: what do we really know?," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer, vol. 145(1), pages 1-12, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Rime, Dagfinn & Sarno, Lucio & Sojli, Elvira, 2009. "Exchange Rate Forecasting, Order Flow and Macroeconomic Information," CEPR Discussion Papers 7225, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  7. Kenneth S. Rogoff & Vania Stavrakeva, 2008. "The Continuing Puzzle of Short Horizon Exchange Rate Forecasting," NBER Working Papers 14071, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Dimitris Christopoulos & Miguel A. León-Ledesma, 2009. "On causal Relationships Between Exchange Rates and Fundamentals: Better Than You Think," Studies in Economics 0909, Department of Economics, University of Kent. [Downloadable!]
  9. Moura, Marcelo, 2008. "Testing the Taylor Model Predictability for Exchange Rates in Latin America," Ibmec Working Papers wpe_117, Ibmec Working Paper, Ibmec São Paulo. [Downloadable!]
  10. Yu-chin Chen & Kenneth Rogoff & Barbara Rossi, 2008. "Can Exchange Rates Forecast Commodity Prices?," Working Papers UWEC-2008-11, University of Washington, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  11. Jian Wang & Jason J. Wu, 2008. "The Taylor rule and forecast intervals for exchange rates," Globalization and Monetary Policy Institute Working Paper 22, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  12. Carlos Felipe Lopez Suarez & Jose Antonio Rodriguez Lopez, 2008. "Nonlinear Exchange Rate Predictability," Working Papers 080911, University of California-Irvine, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  13. Akito Matsumoto & Pietro Cova & Massimiliano Pisani & Alessandro Rebucci, 2008. "New Shocks, Exchange Rates and EquityPrices," IMF Working Papers 08/284, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
  14. John B. Taylor, 2007. "The Explanatory Power of Monetary Policy Rules," NBER Working Papers 13685, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Charles Engel & John H. Rogers, 2008. "Expected consumption growth from cross-country surveys: implications for assessing international capital markets," International Finance Discussion Papers 949, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  16. Rasmus Fatum & Michael Hutchison & Thomas Wu, 2008. "Do Both U.S. and Foreign Macro Surprises Matter for the Intraday Exchange Rate? Evidence from Japan," EPRU Working Paper Series 2009-01, Economic Policy Research Unit (EPRU), University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics, revised Jan 2009. [Downloadable!]
  17. Corsetti, Giancarlo & Dedola, Luca & Leduc, Sylvain, 2008. "The International Dimension of Productivity and Demand Shocks in the US Economy," CEPR Discussion Papers 7003, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  18. Jaewoo Lee & Gian Maria Milesi-Ferretti & Luca Antonio Ricci, 2008. "Real Exchange Rates and Fundamentals: A Cross-Country Perspective," IMF Working Papers 08/13, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
  19. Carvalho, Alexandre & Moura, Marcelo L., 2008. "What Can Taylor Rules Say About Monetary Policy in Latin America?," Ibmec Working Papers wpe_124, Ibmec Working Paper, Ibmec São Paulo. [Downloadable!]
  20. Marcel Fratzscher, 2007. "US shocks and global exchange rate configurations," Working Paper Series 835, European Central Bank. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  21. Michael Binder & Christian Offermanns, 2007. "International Investment Positions and Exchange Rate Dynamics: A Dynamic Panel Analysis," CFS Working Paper Series 2007/23, Center for Financial Studies. [Downloadable!]
  22. Moura, Marcelo L. , & Lima, Adauto R. S. & Mendonça, Rodrigo M., 2008. "Exchange Rate and Fundamentals: The Case of Brazil," Ibmec Working Papers wpe_112, Ibmec Working Paper, Ibmec São Paulo. [Downloadable!]
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