A model of the bimetallic system

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Oppers, SE
• 署名单位: International Monetary Fund
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF MONETARY ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-3932
• DOI: 10.1016/S0304-3932(00)00032-5
• 发表日期: 2000
• 页码: 517-533
• 关键词: bimetallism; Gresham's law; target zone

摘要

A longstanding puzzle in the bimetallic literature concerns the stability of the relative price of gold and silver in the absence of arbitrage possibilities in the major bimetallic countries in the 19th century. This paper offers a solution by developing a model of bimetallism that adds the 'disequilibrium' dynamics relevant when Gresham's law has driven out the 'good money'. The model demonstrates how the bimetallic mint ratios of major countries acted as sets of regulating barriers to stabilize the relative price of gold and silver. An empirical investigation confirms the presence of the associated target-zone effects in bimetallic data. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. JEL classification: E42; F33: N2.