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The paper examines the role of credibility in the conduct of exchange rate policy in developing countries, The analysis is based on a model in which policymakers are concerned about inflation and external competitiveness. Price setters in the nontraded goods sector of the economy adjust prices in reaction to anticipated fluctuations in the domestic price of tradable goods. This type of model is showm to generate a “devaluation bias” which undermines the credibility of a fixed exchange rate. The effect of reputational factors, signaling considerations, and joining a currency union as possible solutions to this bias is examined.

Foreign Exchange --- Inflation --- Development Planning and Policy: Trade Policy --- Factor Movement --- Foreign Exchange Policy --- Price Level --- Deflation --- Currency --- Foreign exchange --- Macroeconomics --- Exchange rates --- Conventional peg --- Real exchange rates --- Exchange rate policy --- Prices --- United Kingdom

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Traditionally the choice of exchange rate regime has been seen as a second-best policy choice, which can be directed toward mitigating the distortionary effects of price or information rigidities. In this paradigm the optimal degree of exchange rate flexibility is found to depend of the source and nature of shocks hitting an economy. More recent literature views the exchange rate as a widely and frequently seen manifestation of government policy with careful exchange-rate management emerging as a tool that can enhance shaky policy credibility.

Foreign Exchange --- Development Planning and Policy: Trade Policy --- Factor Movement --- Foreign Exchange Policy --- International Monetary Arrangements and Institutions --- Currency --- Foreign exchange --- Exchange rate arrangements --- Exchange rate flexibility --- Exchange rate adjustments --- Exchange rate policy --- Conventional peg --- Germany

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In this paper, we investigate the mechanisms through which import tariffs impact the macroeconomy in two large scale workhorse models used for quantitative policy analysis: a computational general equilibrium (CGE) model (Purdue University GTAP model) and a multi-country dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model (IMF GIMF model). The quantitative effects of an increase in tariffs reflect different mechanisms at work. Like other models in the trade literature, in GTAP higher tariffs generate a loss in terms of output arising from an inefficient reallocation of resources between sectors. In GIMF instead, as in other DSGE models, tariffs act as a disincentive to factor utilization. We show that the two models/channels can be broadly interpreted as capturing the impact of tariffs on different components of a country’s aggregate production function: aggregate productivity (GTAP) and factor supply/utilization (GIMF). We discuss ways to combine the estimates from these two models to provide a more complete assessment of the macro effects of tariffs.

Business and Economics --- Macroeconomics --- International Economics --- Development Planning and Policy: Trade Policy --- Factor Movement --- Foreign Exchange Policy --- General Equilibrium and Disequilibrium: Financial Markets --- Economic & financial crises & disasters --- Economics of specific sectors --- Financial crises --- Economic sectors --- Currency crises --- Informal sector --- Economics

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Since 1996, the Bank of Jamaica (BoJ) has sought to limit changes in the exchange rate for the Jamaican dollar in the context of its efforts to maintain low inflation. However, with a persistently high public sector deficit, real interest rates have remained generally high, which partly explains the slow pace of growth. This paper discusses an alternative monetary policy mix for achieving low variance for inflation and output through the prism of an empirical macroeconomic model. The simulation results suggest that a monetary policy mix that takes into account the impact of policy on both inflation and output achieves lower variance for inflation and output compared with the current policy mix, which tilts somewhat toward exchange rate stabilization. A case, therefore, can be made for the BoJ to move to a soft inflation targeting regime supported by fiscal consolidation.

Foreign Exchange --- Inflation --- Money and Monetary Policy --- Price Level --- Deflation --- Monetary Policy --- Development Planning and Policy: Trade Policy --- Factor Movement --- Foreign Exchange Policy --- Currency --- Foreign exchange --- Macroeconomics --- Monetary economics --- Exchange rates --- Inflation targeting --- Real exchange rates --- Exchange rate policy --- Prices --- Monetary policy --- Jamaica

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The paper identifies the contemporaneous relationship between exchange rate policy and liability dollarization using three different definitions of dollarization. The presence of endogeneity makes the empirical identification elusive. We use identification through heteroskedasticity to solve the endogeneity problem in the present context (Rigobon, 2003). While we find that countries with high liability dollarization (external, public, or financial) tend to be more actively involved in exchange rate stabilization operations, we do not find evidence that floating, by itself, promotes de-dollarization.

Foreign Exchange --- Money and Monetary Policy --- Monetary Systems --- Standards --- Regimes --- Government and the Monetary System --- Payment Systems --- Development Planning and Policy: Trade Policy --- Factor Movement --- Foreign Exchange Policy --- Currency --- Foreign exchange --- Monetary economics --- Exchange rates --- Exchange rate policy --- Currencies --- Dollarization --- Exchange rate arrangements --- Money --- Monetary policy --- United States --- Foreign exchange rates. --- Debts, External.