The Mexican Peso And The Korean Won Real Exchange Rates: Evidence From Productivity Models

Using the U.S. as benchmark country, Korean data from 1970:1 to 2000:4 and Mexican data from 1983:1 to 2000:4 are decomposed into traded and non-traded sectors. We find that the traditional purchasing power parity (PPP) model performs remarkably well for the Peso and that the productivity model appears adequate for the Peso but not for the Won. As Mexican relative traded goods productivity rises, the nominal Peso appreciates (coefficients between -2.03 and -2.16). Conversely, as U.S. relative traded goods productivity rises, the Peso depreciates (coefficients between 2.06 and 2.48). Although predicting correctly the direction of change, such large magnitudes suggest only partial support for the theoretical mechanism in Mexico. Coefficients with contrary signs obtained in Korea may indicate competing models (neoclassical or Ricardian) are more appropriate to capture the relationship between productivity and exchange rates.