Current account dynamics and the real exchange rate: disentangling the evidence

Matthieu Bussiere, Aikaterini Karadimitropoulou and Miguel Leon-Ledesma

No 239, Working Papers from Bank of Greece

Abstract: We study the main shocks driving current account fluctuations for the G6 economies. Our theoretical framework features a standard two-goods inter-temporal model, which is specifically designed to uncover the role of permanent and temporary output shocks and the relation between the real exchange rate and the current account. We build a SVAR model including the world real interest rate, net output, the real exchange rate, and the current account and identify four structural shocks. Our results suggest four main conclusions: i) there is substantial support for the two-good intertemporal model with time-varying interest rate, since both external supply and preference shocks account for an important proportion of current account fluctuations; ii) temporary domestic shocks account for a large proportion of current account fluctuations, but the excess response of the current account is less pronounced than in previous studies; iii) our results alleviate the previous puzzle in the literature that a shock that explains little about net output changes can explain a large proportion of current account changes; iv) the nature of the shock matters to shape the relationship between the current account and the real exchange rate, which explains why is it difficult to understand the role of the real exchange rate for current account fluctuations.

Keywords: Current account; real exchange rate; two-good intertemporal model; SVAR (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F32 F41 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 39
Date: 2017-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-mon and nep-opm
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Related works:
Journal Article: CURRENT ACCOUNT DYNAMICS AND THE REAL EXCHANGE RATE: DISENTANGLING THE EVIDENCE (2021)
Working Paper: Current account dynamics and the real exchange rate: Disentangling the evidence (2017)
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