Distribution costs and real exchange rate dynamics during exchange-rate-based stabilizations

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Burstein, AT; Neves, JC; Rebelo, S
• 署名单位: Northwestern University; University of California System; University of California Los Angeles; Universidade Catolica Portuguesa
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF MONETARY ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-3932
• DOI: 10.1016/S0304-3932(03)00075-8
• 发表日期: 2003
• 页码: 1189-1214
• 关键词: Real exchange rate; distribution; inflation; stabilization; Fixed exchange rates

摘要

This paper studies the role played by distribution costs in shaping the behavior of the real exchange rate during exchange-rate-based stabilizations. We document that distribution costs are very large for the average consumer good: they represent more than 40% of the retail price in the US and roughly 60% of the retail price in Argentina. Distribution services require local labor and land so they drive a natural wedge between retail prices in different countries. We show that introducing a distribution sector in an otherwise standard model of exchange-rate-based stabilizations dramatically improves its ability to rationalize observed real exchange rate dynamics. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.