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The real exchange rate and economic growth: revisiting the case using external instruments

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  • Stracca, Livio
  • Mileva, Elitza
  • Habib, Maurizio Michael

Abstract

We investigate the impact of movements in the real exchange rate on economic growth based on five-year average data for a panel of over 150 countries in the post Bretton Woods period. Unlike previous literature, we use external instruments to deal with possible reverse causality from growth to the real exchange rate. Our country-specific instruments are (i) global capital flows interacted with individual countries' financial openness and (ii) the growth rate of official reserves. We ?find that a real appreciation (depreciation) reduces (raises) significantly annual real GDP growth, more than in previous estimates in the literature. However, our results confirm this effect only for developing countries and for pegs. JEL Classification: F31, F43

Suggested Citation

  • Stracca, Livio & Mileva, Elitza & Habib, Maurizio Michael, 2016. "The real exchange rate and economic growth: revisiting the case using external instruments," Working Paper Series 1921, European Central Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:20161921
    Note: 335958
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    economic growth; instrumental variables; Panel data; real exchange rate;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F31 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - Foreign Exchange
    • F43 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - Economic Growth of Open Economies

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