The impact of exchange rate volatility on U.S. poultry exports

Existing empirical evidence on the effect of exchange rate uncertainty on trade is generally conflicting and inconclusive. While some studies found a positive relationship between exchange rate volatility and trade, others argue for the opposite. Furthermore, the vast majority of past studies only focused on aggregate trade flow data. The lack of extensive literature on studies based on disaggregated and commodity-level data may partially explain the ambiguity in past empirical evidence. This paper re-examines the relationship between exchange rate volatility and U.S. poultry exports using a panel data for 49 importing nations over two subperiods: 1976-1985 and 1986-2000. The analysis uses a fixed-effects model specification and three alternative measures of exchange rate volatility. The empirical results suggest that the choice of volatility measure matters as there is a positive relationship between exchange rate uncertainty and poultry exports. These findings are consistent with those from several previous studies. [JEL classification: F310, Q170]. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Agribusiness 22: 233-245, 2006.