Workers’ Remittances and the Equilibrium Real Exchange Rate
Author: Mr.Adolfo Barajas
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Published: 2010-12-01
Total Pages: 44
ISBN-13: 1455210943
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis paper investigates the impact of workers’ remittances on equilibrium real exchange rates (ERER) in recipient economies. Using a small open economy model, it shows that standard "Dutch Disease" results of appreciation are substantially weakened or even overturned depending on: degree of openness; factor mobility between domestic sectors; counter cyclicality of remittances; the share of consumption in tradables; and the sensitivity of a country’s risk premium to remittance flows. Panel cointegration techniques on a large set of countries provide support for these analytical results, and show that ERER appreciation in response to sustained remittance flows tends to be quantitatively small.