Exchange rate pass-through in a competitive model of pricing-to-market

Raphael Auer () and Thomas Chaney ()

No 23, Globalization and Monetary Policy Institute Working Paper from Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas

Abstract: This paper extends the Mussa and Rosen (1978) model of quality-pricing under perfect competition. Exporters sell goods of different qualities to consumers who have heterogeneous preferences for quality. Production is subject to decreasing returns to scale and, therefore, supply and the toughness of competition react to cost changes brought about by exchange rate fluctuations. First, we predict that exchange rate shocks are imperfectly passed through into prices. Second, prices of low quality goods are more sensitive to exchange rate shocks than prices of high quality goods. Third, in response to an exchange rate appreciation, the composition of exports shifts towards higher quality and more expensive goods. We test these predictions using highly disaggregated price and quantity U.S. import data. We find evidence that in response to an exchange rate appreciation, the composition of exports shifts towards high unit price goods. Therefore, exchange rate passthrough rates that are measured using aggregate data will tend to overstate the actual extent of pass-through.

Keywords: Foreign exchange rates; Econometric models; International trade (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cba, nep-ifn and nep-opm
Date: 2009
View list of references View citations in EconPapers

Downloads: (external link)
http://dallasfed.org/institute/wpapers/2009/0023.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Exchange Rate Pass-Through in a Competitive Model of Pricing-to-Market (2009)
Journal Article: Exchange rate pass-through in a competitive model of pricing-to-market (2008)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:fip:feddgw:23

Ordering information: This working paper can be ordered from

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Globalization and Monetary Policy Institute Working Paper from Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
Contact information at EDIRC.
Series data maintained by Diane Rosenberger ().