How to grow an invoicing currency: Micro evidence from Argentina

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Benguria, Felipe; Novy, Dennis
• 署名单位: University of Kentucky; University of Warwick; Centre for Economic Policy Research - UK; University of Kentucky; Leibniz Association; Ifo Institut
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-1996
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jinteco.2026.104290
• 发表日期: 2026
• 关键词: exchange-rate dynamics; INTERNATIONAL-TRADE; POLICY; stabilization; MODEL

摘要

We study the internationalization of the Chinese renminbi (RMB) leveraging a unique policy experiment. In 2023, amid a dollar shortage, Argentina expanded a currency swap line with China. The share of imports from China invoiced in RMB surged rapidly, displacing the dollar, which had previously accounted for virtually all invoicing. Following the presidential election of late 2023, as the dollar shortage eased, invoicing in RMB declined. We explore the mechanisms behind this pattern, using firm-level data on imports, bank-firm loan relationships, and bank balance sheets. We find that banks played a key role. Firms with pre-existing relationships to banks with limited US dollar loans were more likely to switch to RMB. In addition, firms borrowing from a Chinese state-owned bank were more likely to use RMB. We also document firm-level spillovers, with RMB use for imports from China increasing RMB use for imports from other countries. Finally, firms switching to RMB saw increased total imports.