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A Reappraisal of the Border Effect on Relative Price Volatility

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  • Yin-Wong Cheung
  • Kon S. Lai

Abstract

Engel and Rogers (1996) find that crossing the US-Canada border can considerably raise relative price volatility and that exchange rate fluctuations explain about one-third of the volatility increase. In re-evaluating the border effect, this study shows that cross-country heterogeneity in price volatility can lead to significant bias in measuring the border effect unless proper adjustment is made to correct it. The analysis explores the implication of symmetric sampling for border effect estimation. Moreover, using a direct decomposition method, two conditions governing the strength of the border effect are identified. In particular, the more dissimilar the price shocks are across countries, the greater the border effect will be. Decomposition estimates also suggest that exchange rate fluctuations actually account for a large majority of the border effect.

Suggested Citation

  • Yin-Wong Cheung & Kon S. Lai, 2006. "A Reappraisal of the Border Effect on Relative Price Volatility," CESifo Working Paper Series 1640, CESifo.
  • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_1640
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Engel, Charles, 1993. "Real exchange rates and relative prices : An empirical investigation," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 35-50, August.
    2. Janet Ceglowski, 2003. "The law of one price: intranational evidence for Canada," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 36(2), pages 373-400, May.
    3. Yuriy Gorodnichenko & Linda Tesar, 2005. "A Re-Examination of the Border Effect," Working Papers 546, Research Seminar in International Economics, University of Michigan.
    4. Charles Engel, 1999. "Accounting for U.S. Real Exchange Rate Changes," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 107(3), pages 507-538, June.
    5. Engel, Charles & Rogers, John H, 1996. "How Wide Is the Border?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(5), pages 1112-1125, December.
    6. Charles Engel & John H. Rogers, 1998. "Relative price volatility: what role does the border play?," International Finance Discussion Papers 623, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    7. Engel, Charles & Rogers, John H., 2001. "Deviations from purchasing power parity: causes and welfare costs," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(1), pages 29-57, October.
    8. Yin‐Wong Cheung & Eiji Fujii, 2006. "Cross‐country Relative Price Volatility: Effects of Market Structure," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(5), pages 836-848, November.
    9. Feenstra, Robert C. & Kendall, Jon D., 1997. "Pass-through of exchange rates and purchasing power parity," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(1-2), pages 237-261, August.
    10. Engel, Charles & Rogers, John H, 2001. "Violating the Law of One Price: Should We Make a Federal Case Out of It?," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 33(1), pages 1-15, February.
    11. Stephen G. Cecchetti & Nelson C. Mark & Robert J. Sonora, 2002. "Price Index Convergence Among United States Cities," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 43(4), pages 1081-1099, November.
    12. Janet Ceglowski, 2003. "The law of one price: intranational evidence for Canada," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 36(2), pages 373-400, May.
    13. Froot, Kenneth A & Klemperer, Paul D, 1989. "Exchange Rate Pass-Through When Market Share Matters," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(4), pages 637-654, September.
    14. Cheung, Yin-Wong & Chinn, Menzie & Fujii, Eiji, 2001. "Market Structure and the Persistence of Sectoral Real Exchange Rates," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 6(2), pages 95-114, April.
    15. Mario J. Crucini & Chris I. Telmer & Marios Zachariadis, 2005. "Understanding European Real Exchange Rates," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(3), pages 724-738, June.
    16. Parsley, David C. & Wei, Shang-Jin, 2001. "Explaining the border effect: the role of exchange rate variability, shipping costs, and geography," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(1), pages 87-105, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Pippenger, John, 2022. "The Law Of One Price, Borders And Purchasing Power Parity," University of California at Santa Barbara, Economics Working Paper Series qt5b17d1dr, Department of Economics, UC Santa Barbara.
    2. Heijdra, Ben J. & Ligthart, Jenny E., 2010. "The Transitional Dynamics Of Fiscal Policy In Small Open Economies," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(1), pages 1-28, February.
    3. repec:dau:papers:123456789/179 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Dmitry Kulikov, 2015. "Law of One Price in the euro area: an empirical investigation using Nielsen disaggregated price data," Bank of Estonia Working Papers wp2014-10, Bank of Estonia, revised 20 Jan 2015.
    5. Pippenger, John, 2015. "Arbitrage and the Law of One Price: Setting the Record Straight," University of California at Santa Barbara, Economics Working Paper Series qt27t4q265, Department of Economics, UC Santa Barbara.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    price volatility; exchange rate volatility; national border; distance; dissimilar shocks;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F31 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - Foreign Exchange
    • F41 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - Open Economy Macroeconomics

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