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International Asset Markets and Real Exchange Rate Volatility

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  • Bodenstein, Martin

Abstract

The real exchange rate is very volatile relative to major macroeconomic aggregates and its correlation with the ratio of domestic over foreign consumption is negative (Backus-Smith puzzle). These two observations constitute a puzzle to standard international macroeconomic theory. This paper develops a two country model with complete asset markets and limited enforcement for international financial contracts that provides a possible explanation of these two puzzles. The model performs better than a standard incomplete markets model with a single non-contingent bond unless very tight borrowing constraints are imposed in the latter. With limited enforcement for both domestic and international financial contracts, the model's asset pricing implications are brought into line with the empirical evidence, albeit at the expense of raising real exchange rate volatility.

Suggested Citation

  • Bodenstein, Martin, 2006. "International Asset Markets and Real Exchange Rate Volatility," International Finance Discussion Papers 884, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.), revised Jul 2008.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedgif:884
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Guglielmo Maria Caporale & Michael Donadelli & Alessia Varani, 2014. "International Capital Markets Structure, Preferences and Puzzles: The US-China Case," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1362, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    2. De Paoli, Bianca & Küçük, Hande, 2015. "News shocks, monetary policy, and foreign currency positions," Staff Reports 750, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    3. Jón Steinsson, 2008. "The Dynamic Behavior of the Real Exchange Rate in Sticky Price Models," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(1), pages 519-533, March.
    4. Andrés Sagner, 2010. "Implied Probability Distribution in Financial Options," Working Papers Central Bank of Chile 597, Central Bank of Chile.
    5. Devereux, Michael B. & Smith, Gregor W. & Yetman, James, 2012. "Consumption and real exchange rates in professional forecasts," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(1), pages 33-42.
    6. Curatola, Giuliano & Donadelli, Michael & Grüning, Patrick, 2017. "Technology trade with asymmetric tax regimes and heterogeneous labor markets: Implications for macro quantities and asset prices," SAFE Working Paper Series 163, Research Center SAFE - Sustainable Architecture for Finance in Europe, Goethe University Frankfurt.
    7. Nuntramas, Phacharaphot, 2011. "Revisiting the consumption-real exchange rate anomaly in a model with non-traded goods," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 428-447, April.
    8. A. Craig Burnside & Jeremy J. Graveline, 2012. "On the Asset Market View of Exchange Rates," NBER Working Papers 18646, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Caporale, Guglielmo Maria & Donadelli, Michael & Varani, Alessia, 2015. "International capital markets structure, preferences and puzzles: A “US–China World”," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 85-99.
    10. repec:bkr:journl:v:78:y:2019:i:2:p:3-27 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Donadelli, Michael & Paradiso, Antonio, 2014. "Does financial integration affect real exchange rate volatility and cross-country equity market returns correlation?," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 206-220.
    12. Rouillard, Jean-François, 2018. "International risk sharing and financial shocks," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 26-44.
    13. Gu, Grace Weishi, 2015. "A Tale of Two Countries: Sovereign Default, Exchange Rate, and Trade," MPRA Paper 61900, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Matthew Canzoneri & Robert Cumby & Behzad Diba, 2013. "Addressing International Empirical Puzzles: the Liquidity of Bonds," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 197-215, April.
    15. Kollmann, Robert, 2009. "Domestic Financial Frictions: Implications for International Risk Sharing, Real Exchange Rate Volatility and International Business Cycles," MPRA Paper 70348, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. M. Hadzi-Vaskov, 2007. "Does the Nominal Exchange Rate Explain the Backus-Smith Puzzle? Evidence from the Eurozone," Working Papers 07-32, Utrecht School of Economics.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Risk-sharing; Limited enforcement; Real exchange rate; Backus-Smith puzzle; Asset prices;

    JEL classification:

    • F31 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - Foreign Exchange
    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates

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