Over the Hedge: Do Exporters Practice Selective Hedging?

Richard Fabling and Arthur Grimes

No 14_01, Working Papers from Motu Economic and Public Policy Research

Abstract: What determines exporters’ exchange rate hedging decisions and do exporters attempt to “time the market”? We use a unique unit record longitudinal administrative dataset on firm exports to find the determinants of exporters’ currency hedging choices. Determinants include financial fragility, prior hedging experience, and natural hedge opportunities. In addition, firms alter their hedging ratios when the currency has recently trended in one direction. We test whether such behaviour reflects firm characteristics (such as pricing power). We find that these responses are ubiquitous for all but large firms and for all times other than when the exchange rate is near its extreme high or low historical values. These results are consistent with most firms practicing selective hedging (market timing) behaviour that reflects a belief in exchange rate momentum effects. However, this behaviour appears sub-optimal since momentum effects are statistically absent from the underlying exchange rate data.

Keywords: Currency hedging; optimal hedging; selective hedging; momentum trading (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D21 F31 G15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 33 pages
Date: 2014-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-bec and nep-int
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Over the Hedge: Do Exporters Practice Selective Hedging? (2015)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:mtu:wpaper:14_01

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