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Hard or Soft Pegs? Choice of Exchange Rate Regime and Trade in Africa

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  • Qureshi, Mahvash Saeed
  • Tsangarides, Charalambos G.

Abstract

This paper revisits the link between fixed exchange rate regimes and trade in the context of Africa’s exchange rate arrangements, differentiating the effects of hard pegs (currency unions) from conventional soft pegs. Using a novel dataset of exchange rate regime classification, the paper augments the gravity model of bilateral trade flows with measures of currency unions and conventional pegged arrangements, and benchmarks Africa’s experience against the rest of the world. We find that in both samples, currency unions and pegs increase trade vis-à-vis more flexible exchange rate arrangements through channels in addition to reduced exchange rate volatility; however the effect is almost twice as large for Africa. In addition, the trade-generating effect of pegs is at least as large for Africa as that of currency unions, suggesting that pegs could present a viable option—perhaps an alternative to currency unions—to promote trade in the region.

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  • Qureshi, Mahvash Saeed & Tsangarides, Charalambos G., 2012. "Hard or Soft Pegs? Choice of Exchange Rate Regime and Trade in Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(4), pages 667-680.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:40:y:2012:i:4:p:667-680
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2011.09.010
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    5. Simplice Asongu & Jacinta Nwachukwu & Vanessa Tchamyou, 2017. "A Literature Survey On Proposed African Monetary Unions," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(3), pages 878-902, July.
    6. Gnimassoun, Blaise, 2015. "The importance of the exchange rate regime in limiting current account imbalances in sub-Saharan African countries," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 36-74.
    7. Cushman, David O. & De Vita, Glauco, 2017. "Exchange rate regimes and FDI in developing countries: A propensity score matching approach," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 143-163.
    8. Bita Shaygani & Asghar Abolhasani Hastiani & Farhad Ghaffari & Mahdi Sadeghi shahdani & Mahdi Fadaee, 2015. "Effects of Exchange Rate Arrangements on Trade Cooperation in BRICS Countries," Asian Economic and Financial Review, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 5(3), pages 563-578, March.
    9. Asongu, Simplice & Nwachukwu, Jacinta & Tchamyou, Vanessa, 2017. "A summary of a survey on proposed African monetary unions," MPRA Paper 79637, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Coulibaly, Issiaka & Gnimassoun, Blaise, 2013. "Optimality of a monetary union: New evidence from exchange rate misalignments in West Africa," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 463-482.
    11. Blaise Gnimassoun, 2014. "The importance of the exchange rate regime in limiting current account imbalances in sub-Saharan African countries," Working Papers hal-04141342, HAL.
    12. Santana-Gallego, Maria & Pérez-Rodríguez, Jorge V., 2019. "International trade, exchange rate regimes, and financial crises," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 85-95.
    13. Klaus Schmidt-Hebbel, 2019. "Macroeconomic Institutions: Lessons from World Experience for MENA Countries," Working Papers 1311, Economic Research Forum, revised 21 Aug 2019.
    14. Issiaka Coulibaly & Blaise Gnimassoun, 2012. "Optimality of a monetary union : New evidence from exchange rate misalignments in West Africa," Working Papers hal-04141049, HAL.
    15. Laurent Didier, 2020. "Exchange rate regimes, trade in raw materials and exporters behavior: Evidence from some Small Island Developing States (SIDS)," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 40(4), pages 2894-2919.

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