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Inflation dynamics and trade openness: with an application to South Africa

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  • Janine Aron
  • John Muellbauer

Abstract

Evolving openness to trade is hard to measure, despite its relevance to models of growth, inflation and exchange rates. Our innovative technique measures trade openness encompassing both observable trade policy (tariffs and surcharges) and unobservable trade policy (quotas and other nontariff barriers), capturing the latter by a smooth non-linear stochastic trend in a model for the share of manufactured imports in home demand for manufactured goods, controlling for the business cycle and exchange rate. The evidence for South Africa suggests that increased openness has significantly reduced the mean inflation rate and has reduced the exchange rate pass-through into wholesale prices.

Suggested Citation

  • Janine Aron & John Muellbauer, 2007. "Inflation dynamics and trade openness: with an application to South Africa," CSAE Working Paper Series 2007-11, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
    • Handle: RePEc:csa:wpaper:2007-11
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Isaacs, Gilad, 2014. "The myth of “neutrality” and the rhetoric of “stability”: macroeconomic policy in democratic South Africa," MPRA Paper 54426, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Tahir Mukhtar, 2010. "Does Trade Openness Reduce Inflation? Empirical Evidence from Pakistan," Lahore Journal of Economics, Department of Economics, The Lahore School of Economics, vol. 15(2), pages 35-50, Jul-Dec.
    3. Wolfgang Lechthaler, 2017. "Ben Bernanke in Doha: The Effect of Monetary Policy on Optimal Tariffs," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 49(8), pages 1715-1746, December.
    4. Sikdar, Asaduzzaman & Kundu, Nobinkhor & Khan, Zakir Saadullah, 2013. "Trade openness and inflation: A test of Romer hypothesis for Bangladesh," MPRA Paper 65244, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 16 Oct 2013.
    5. Jørn Rattsø & Hildegunn E. Stokke, 2007. "A Growth Model For South Africa," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 75(4), pages 616-630, December.
    6. Janine Aron & Kenneth Creamer & John Muellbauer & Neil Rankin, 2014. "Exchange Rate Pass-Through to Consumer Prices in South Africa: Evidence from Micro-Data," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(1), pages 165-185, January.
    7. Ferdinand Ahiakpor & William Cantah & William Brafu-Insaidoo & Eric Bondzie, 2019. "Trade Openness and Monetary Policy in Ghana," International Economic Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(2), pages 332-349, April.
    8. Aram Sepehrivand & Jabar Azizi, 2016. "The Effect of Trade Openness on Inflation in D-8 Member Countries with an Emphasis on Romer Theory," Asian Journal of Economic Modelling, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 4(4), pages 162-167, December.
    9. Janine Aron & John N. J. Muellbauer & Coen Pretorius, 2009. "A Stochastic Estimation Framework For Components Of The South African Consumer Price Index," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 77(2), pages 282-313, June.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • F41 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - Open Economy Macroeconomics
    • E31 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Price Level; Inflation; Deflation
    • C22 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Time-Series Models; Dynamic Quantile Regressions; Dynamic Treatment Effect Models; Diffusion Processes

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