IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/wbk/wbrwps/4668.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Currency undervaluation and sovereign wealth funds : a new role for the World Trade Organization

Author

Listed:
  • Mattoo, Aaditya
  • Subramanian, Arvind

Abstract

Two aspects of global imbalances - undervalued exchange rates and sovereign wealth funds - require a multilateral response. For reasons of inadequate leverage and eroding legitimacy, the International Monetary Fund has not been effective in dealing with undervalued exchange rates. This paper proposes new rules in the World Trade Organization to discipline cases of significant undervaluation that are clearly attributable to government action. The rationale for WTO involvement is that there are large trade consequences of undervalued exchange rates, which act as both import tariffs and export subsidies, and that the WTO's enforcement mechanism is credible and effective. The World Trade Organization would not be involved in exchange rate management, and would not displace the International Monetary Fund. Rather, the authors suggest ways to harness the comparative advantage of the two institutions, with the International Monetary Fund providing the essential technical expertise in the World Trade Organization's enforcement process. There is a bargain to be struck between countries with sovereign wealth funds, which want secure and liberal access for their capital, and capital-importing countries, which have concerns about the objectives and operations of sovereign wealth funds. The World Trade Organization is the natural place to strike this bargain. Its General Agreement on Trade in Services, already covers investments by sovereign wealth funds, and other agreements offer a precedent for designing disciplines for these funds. Placing exchange rates and sovereign wealth funds on the trade negotiating agenda may help revive the Doha Round by rekindling the interest of a wide variety of groups.

Suggested Citation

  • Mattoo, Aaditya & Subramanian, Arvind, 2008. "Currency undervaluation and sovereign wealth funds : a new role for the World Trade Organization," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4668, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:4668
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2008/07/14/000158349_20080714114246/Rendered/PDF/WPS4668.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Edwin M. Truman, 2007. "Sovereign Wealth Funds: The Need for Greater Transparency and Accountability," Policy Briefs PB07-6, Peterson Institute for International Economics.
    2. Kym Anderson & Will Martin & Dominique van der Mensbrugghe, 2006. "Distortions to World Trade: Impacts on Agricultural Markets and Farm Incomes," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 28(2), pages 168-194.
    3. Brad Setser, 2007. "The Case for Exchange Rate Flexibility in Oil-Exporting Economies," Policy Briefs PB07-8, Peterson Institute for International Economics.
    4. Eswar S. Prasad & Raghuram G. Rajan & Arvind Subramanian, 2007. "Foreign Capital and Economic Growth," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 38(1), pages 153-230.
    5. Patrick Messerlin, 2004. "China in the WTO: Antidumping and Safeguards," Post-Print hal-03416792, HAL.
    6. Deepak Bhattasali & Shantong Li & Will Martin, 2004. "China and the WTO : Accession, Policy Reform, and Poverty Reduction Strategies," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 14920, December.
    7. Mattoo, Aaditya & Subramanian, Arvind, 2004. "The WTO and the poorest countries: the stark reality," World Trade Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 3(3), pages 385-407, November.
    8. C. Fred Bergsten, 1998. "Fifty Years of the GATT/WTO: Lessons from the Past for Strategies for the Future," Working Paper Series WP98-3, Peterson Institute for International Economics.
    9. Gary Clyde Hufbauer & Yee Wong & Ketki Sheth, 2006. "US-China Trade Disputes: Rising Tides Rising Stakes," Peterson Institute Press: All Books, Peterson Institute for International Economics, number pa78, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mika Nieminen, 2017. "Patterns of international capital flows and their implications for developing countries," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2017-171, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    2. Philipp Harms & Pierre-Guillaume Méon, 2013. "The Growth Effects of Greenfield Investment and Mergers and Acquisitions: Econometric Investigation and Implication for MENA Countries," Working Papers 794, Economic Research Forum, revised Nov 2013.
    3. Kym Anderson, 2006. "Reducing Distortions to Agricultural Incentives: Progress, Pitfalls, and Prospects," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 88(5), pages 1135-1146.
    4. Gente, Karine & León-Ledesma, Miguel A. & Nourry, Carine, 2015. "External constraints and endogenous growth: Why didn't some countries benefit from capital flows?," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 223-249.
    5. Ibrahim D. Raheem & Sara le Roux & Simplice A. Asongu, 2019. "The Role of Asymmetry and Uncertainties in the Capital Flows- Economic Growth Nexus," Research Africa Network Working Papers 19/047, Research Africa Network (RAN).
    6. Sohag, Kazi & Sokhanvar, Amin & Belyaeva, Zhanna & Mirnezami, Seyed Reza, 2022. "Hydrocarbon prices shocks, fiscal stability and consolidation: Evidence from Russian Federation," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    7. Joshua Aizenman & Rajeswari Sengupta, 2011. "Global Imbalances: Is Germany the New China? A Skeptical View," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 387-400, July.
    8. Charnikat, Charnikat & Masih, Mansur, 2016. "Granger-causal relationship between real exchange rate and economic growth: Malaysia as a case study," MPRA Paper 108939, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Constantinos Stephanou, 2008. "Liberalization of Trade in Financial Services : Lessons from Latin America and the Caribbean," World Bank Publications - Reports 6280, The World Bank Group.
    10. Joshua Aizenman & Brian Pinto, 2013. "Managing Financial Integration and Capital Mobility—Policy Lessons from the Past Two Decades," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(4), pages 636-653, September.
    11. Andrew van Hulten & Michael Webber, 2010. "Do developing countries need 'good' institutions and policies and deep financial markets to benefit from capital account liberalization?," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 10(2), pages 283-319, March.
    12. Arvind Subramanian, 2013. "Preserving the Open Global Economic System: A Strategic Blueprint for China and the United States," Policy Briefs PB13-16, Peterson Institute for International Economics.
    13. Kose,Ayhan & Ohnsorge,Franziska Lieselotte & Ye,Lei Sandy & Islamaj,Ergys, 2017. "Weakness in investment growth : causes, implications and policy responses," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7990, The World Bank.
    14. Chad E. Hart & John C. Beghin, 2004. "Rethinking Agricultural Domestic Support under the World Trade Organization," Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) Publications 04-bp43, Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) at Iowa State University.
    15. Levy Yeyati, Eduardo & Sturzenegger, Federico & Reggio, Iliana, 2010. "On the endogeneity of exchange rate regimes," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(5), pages 659-677, July.
    16. Sergio Cesaratto, 2012. "Controversial and novel features of the Eurozone crisis as a balance of payment crisis," Department of Economics University of Siena 640, Department of Economics, University of Siena.
    17. Reza Siregar & Ramkishen Rajan, 2006. "Models of Equilibrium Real Exchange Rates Revisited: A Selective Review of the Literature," Centre for International Economic Studies Working Papers 2006-04, University of Adelaide, Centre for International Economic Studies.
    18. Garita, Gus, 2009. "How Does Financial Openness Affect Economic Growth and its Components?," MPRA Paper 20099, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Alfredo SCHCLAREK & Jiajun XU, 2020. "Exchange rate and balance of payment risks in the global development finance architecture," Working Paper 15b03057-1f7f-44dc-93fa-5, Agence française de développement.
    20. Quamrul Alam & Mohammad Yusuf & Ken Coghill, 2011. "Does unilateral liberalization promote WTO GATS commitment? Cross-country evidence from the telecommunications sector," Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(1), pages 29-49.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Emerging Markets; Debt Markets; Economic Theory&Research; Trade Law; Currencies and Exchange Rates;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F21 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Investment; Long-Term Capital Movements
    • F31 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - Foreign Exchange
    • F32 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - Current Account Adjustment; Short-term Capital Movements
    • F53 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - International Agreements and Observance; International Organizations

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:4668. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Roula I. Yazigi (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/dvewbus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.