This file is part of IDEAS, which uses RePEc data


[ Papers | Articles | Software | Books | Chapters | Authors | Institutions | JEL Classification | NEP reports | Search | New papers by email | Author registration | Rankings | Volunteers | FAQ | Blog | Help! ]

Why do Central Bankers Intervene in the Foreign Exchange Market? Some New Evidence and Theory

Author info | Abstract | Publisher info | Download info | Related research | Statistics
Author Info
Pablo A. Guerron () (Department of Economics, North Carolina State University)

Additional information is available for the following registered author(s):

Abstract

I provide new empirical and theoretical evidence about the effectiveness of sterilized interventions on exchange rates. These new developments are particularly important to understand why central bankers from developing countries tend to intervene during periods of financial distress. In the first half of the paper, I apply a VAR formulation to measure the effects of sterilized interventions on the U.S. bilateral exchange rate. Information from the Exchange Stabilization Fund in the U.S. for the period 1974 -- 2000 is used to identify a shock that is orthogonal to the U.S. money supply and therefore mimics the role of sterilized interventions. According to my identification strategy, a sterilized intervention shock in favor of the U.S. dollar would appreciate it against a trade-weighted currency index by roughly 1 percent. This appreciation is statistically significant, lasts for about 1 year, and is robust to alternative identification strategies. Then, I devote the second part of the paper to rationalize the results from the empirical section by studying sterilized interventions within a two-country general equilibrium model. I find that if trading bonds is costly worldwide and asset markets are incomplete, a domestic government purchase of domestic bonds accompanied by a sale of foreign bonds, a sterilized intervention, appreciates the domestic currency. Accordingly, a calibrated version of the model renders similar results to those from the VAR formulation.

Download Info
To download:

If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. Information about this may be contained in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.

File URL: ftp://ftp.ncsu.edu/pub/ncsu/economics/RePEc/pdf/sterization2.pdf
File Format: application/pdf
File Function:
Download Restriction: no

Publisher Info
Paper provided by North Carolina State University, Department of Economics in its series Working Paper Series with number 007.

Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML (with abstract), plain text (with abstract), BibTeX, RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite), ReDIF
Length: 46 pages
Date of creation: Jan 2006
Date of revision: Aug 2006
Handle: RePEc:ncs:wpaper:007

Contact details of provider:
Phone: (919) 515-3274
Web page: http://www.mgt.ncsu.edu/faculty/economics.html
More information through EDIRC

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (Theofanis Tsoulouhas).

Related research
Keywords: Exchange Rate; Sterilized Intervention; VAR; Open Economy;

Find related papers by JEL classification:
C32 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Time-Series Models; Dynamic Quantile Regressions
F3 - International Economics - - International Finance
E58 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Central Banks and Their Policies

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

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. Clarida, Richard & Gali, Jordi, 1994. "Sources of real exchange-rate fluctuations: How important are nominal shocks?," Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 1-56, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  2. Graciela L. Kaminsky & Karen K. Lewis, 1996. "Does foreign exchange intervention signal future monetary policy?," Working Papers 96-7, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Uhlig, Harald, 1999. "What are the Effects of Monetary Policy on Output? Results from an Agnostic Identification Procedure," CEPR Discussion Papers 2137, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  4. Ariel Burstein & Martin Eichenbaum & Sergio Rebelo, 2005. "Modeling Exchange Rate Passthrough After Large Devaluations," RCER Working Papers 514, University of Rochester - Center for Economic Research (RCER). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. Stockman, Alan C & Tesar, Linda L, 1995. "Tastes and Technology in a Two-Country Model of the Business Cycle: Explaining International Comovements," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(1), pages 168-85, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  6. Philippe Bacchetta & Eric van Wincoop, 2005. "Incomplete Information Processing: A Solution to the Forward Discount Puzzle," Working Papers 05.03, Swiss National Bank, Study Center Gerzensee. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. Douglas Laxton & Paolo Pesenti, 2003. "Monetary Rules for Small, Open, Emerging Economies," NBER Working Papers 9568, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  8. Cushman, David O. & Zha, Tao, 1997. "Identifying monetary policy in a small open economy under flexible exchange rates," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 433-448, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  9. Lawrence J. Christiano & Roberto Motto & Massimo Rostagno, 2003. "The Great Depression and the Friedman-Schwartz hypothesis," Proceedings, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, pages 1119-1215.
    Other versions:
  10. Jonathan Kearns & Roberto Rigobon, 2002. "Identifying the Efficacy of Central Bank Interventions: The Australian Case," NBER Working Papers 9062, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Lawrence J. Christiano & Martin Eichenbaum & Charles L. Evans, 1998. "Monetary Policy Shocks: What Have We Learned and to What End?," NBER Working Papers 6400, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  12. Eichenbaum, Martin & Evans, Charles L, 1995. "Some Empirical Evidence on the Effects of Shocks to Monetary Policy on Exchange Rates," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 110(4), pages 975-1009, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Bacchetta, Philippe & van Wincoop, Eric, 2005. "Rational Inattention: A Solution to the Forward Discount Puzzle," CEPR Discussion Papers 5261, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  14. Gali, Jordi, 1992. "How Well Does the IS-LM Model Fit Postwar U.S. Data," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 107(2), pages 709-38, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Mark P. Taylor, 1995. "The Economics of Exchange Rates," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 33(1), pages 13-47, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  16. Backus, David K. & Kehoe, Patrick J., 1989. "On the denomination of government debt : A critique of the portfolio balance approach," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 359-376, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  17. A. Craig MacKinlay, 1997. "Event Studies in Economics and Finance," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 35(1), pages 13-39, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  18. Christopher J. Neely, 2001. "The practice of central bank intervention: looking under the hood," The Regional Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, issue May, pages 1-10. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  19. Edison, Hali J. & Pauls, B. Dianne, 1993. "A re-assessment of the relationship between real exchange rates and real interest rates: 1974-1990," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 165-187, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  20. Rogoff, Kenneth, 1984. "On the effects of sterilized intervention : An analysis of weekly data," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(2), pages 133-150, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  21. Almuth Scholl & Harald Uhlig, 2005. "New Evidence on the Puzzles. Results from Agnostic Identification on Monetary Policy and Exchange Rates," SFB 649 Discussion Papers SFB649DP2005-037, Sonderforschungsbereich 649, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
Full references

Statistics
Access and download statistics

Did you know? RePEc and its associated services are free for contributors and users, and do not accept any advertising.

This page was last updated on 2009-11-17.

This information is provided to you by IDEAS at the Department of Economics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Connecticut using RePEc data on a server sponsored by the Society for Economic Dynamics.