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Towards a Theory of Current Accounts

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  • Jaume Ventura

Abstract

The current accounts data of industrial countries exhibits some strong patterns that are inconsistent with the intertemporal approach to the current account. This is the basic model that international economists have been using for more than two decades to think about current account issues. This paper shows that it is possible to go a long way towards reconciling the theory and the data by introducing two additional features to the basic model: investment risk and adjustment costs to investment. Moreover, these extensions generate new and unexpected theoretical predictions that receive substantial support in the data. The overall message is therefore positive: with a couple of reasonable modifications, the intertemporal approach to the current account provides a fairly good description of the industrial country data.

Suggested Citation

  • Jaume Ventura, 2002. "Towards a Theory of Current Accounts," NBER Working Papers 9163, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:9163
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    1. Jaume Ventura & Fernando Broner, 2008. "Rethinking the effects of financial liberalization," 2008 Meeting Papers 747, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    2. Jiandong Ju & Shang-Jin Wei, 2014. "A Solution to Two Paradoxes of International Capital Flows," Economic and Political Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 2(1), pages 3-43, January.
    3. Domenico Giannone & Michele Lenza, 2010. "The Feldstein-Horioka Fact," NBER Chapters, in: NBER International Seminar on Macroeconomics 2009, pages 103-117, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Herrmann, Sabine & Jochem, Axel, 2005. "Determinants of current account developments in the central and east European EU member states - consequences for the enlargement of the euro area," Discussion Paper Series 1: Economic Studies 2005,32, Deutsche Bundesbank.
    5. Georgopoulos, George & Hejazi, Walid, 2009. "The Feldstein-Horioka puzzle revisited: Is the home-bias much less?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 341-350, March.
    6. Sebastián Edwards, 2008. "On Current Account Surpluses and the Correction of Global Imbalances," Central Banking, Analysis, and Economic Policies Book Series, in: Kevin Cowan & Sebastián Edwards & Rodrigo O. Valdés & Norman Loayza (Series Editor) & Klaus Schmidt- (ed.),Current Account and External Financing, edition 1, volume 12, chapter 2, pages 025-083, Central Bank of Chile.
    7. Sebastian Edwards, 2004. "Thirty Years of Current Account Imbalances, Current Account Reversals, and Sudden Stops," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 51(s1), pages 1-49, June.
    8. Juan José Echavarría & Diego Vásquez & Mauricio Villamizar, 2005. "La tasa de cambio real en Colombia. ¿Muy lejos del equilibrio?," Revista ESPE - Ensayos Sobre Política Económica, Banco de la República, vol. 23(49), pages 134-191, December.
    9. Hwang, Sun Ho & Kim, Yun Jung, 2018. "Capital mobility in OECD countries: A multi-level factor approach to saving–investment correlations," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 150-159.
    10. Zymek, Robert, 2015. "Factor proportions and the growth of world trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(1), pages 42-53.
    11. Olivier Blanchard & Francesco Giavazzi, 2002. "Current Account Deficits in the Euro Area: The End of the Feldstein Horioka Puzzle?," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 33(2), pages 147-210.
    12. Erauskin, Iñaki, 2015. "Savings, the size of the net foreign asset position, and the dynamics of current accounts," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 353-370.
    13. Fratzscher, Marcel & Müller, Gernot J. & Bussière, Matthieu, 2004. "Current accounts dynamics in OECD and EU acceding countries - an intertemporal approach," Working Paper Series 311, European Central Bank.
    14. Daragh Clancy & Lorenzo Ricci, 2022. "Economic sentiments and international risk sharing," International Economics, CEPII research center, issue 169, pages 208-229.
    15. Chayawadee Chai-anant & Ubonrat Jantarang, 2004. "Current Account Adjustment and Policy Instrument Responsiveness," Working Papers 2004-04, Monetary Policy Group, Bank of Thailand.
    16. Helmut Herwartz & Florian Siedenburg, 2007. "Determinants of Current Account Imbalances in 16 OECD Countries: An Out-Of-Sample Perspective," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 143(2), pages 349-374, July.
    17. Fernando Broner & Jaume Ventura, 2016. "Rethinking the Effects of Financial Globalization," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 131(3), pages 1497-1542.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F21 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Investment; Long-Term Capital Movements
    • F32 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - Current Account Adjustment; Short-term Capital Movements

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