This paper calculates a unit labor-cost based real effective exchange rate for China for the period 1987-2002. It examines carefully which data sources can be used given the known limitations of Chinese data and constructs to them together with internationally available unit labor cost...

This study investigates the impact of international competitiveness on net employment, job creation, job destruction, and gross job flows for a representative sample of German establishments from 1993 to 2005. We find a statistically significant but economically small effect of real exchange...

Since the establishment in 1979 of the Exchange Rate Mechanism of the EMS a number of countries, after entry, have experienced a substantial and persistent rise in their real exchange rate (the ratio of domestic to foreign prices). This paper explains this phenomenon in terms of a `peso problem'...

This Paper constructs a general equilibrium trade model of a small open economy producing an exported good, an imported good and a non-traded good by using two or more factors of production, one of which, namely capital, is imperfectly internationally mobile. Within this framework, it is shown...

This paper analyzes the impact of terms of trade and risk-premium shocks on a small open economy in an intertemporal, Dutch disease model, with international capital mobility. It is shown that when the economy experiences a permanent improvement in the terms of trade, the Dutch disease effect...

Recent empirical research documents that an exogenous rise in government purchases in a given country triggers a persistent depreciation of its real exchange rate - which raises an important puzzle, as standard macro models predict an appreciation of the real exchange rate. This paper presents a...

The political economy of resource rich countries is surveyed. The empirical evidence suggests that countries with a large share of primary exports in GNP have bad growth records and high inequality, especially if the quality of institutions and the rule of law are bad. The economic argument that...

There is a well-known set of empirical regularities that describe the experience of countries that peg their exchange rate as part of a macroeconomic adjustment programme. Following-the-peg economies tend to experience an increase in GDP, a large expansion of production in the non-tradable...

Five real exchange rate indicators are computed to assess the international competitiveness of Hungarian industry. These indicators are explained in econometric equations by employment, unemployment, productivity, interest spread and real producer wage. Causality tests reveal that external...

This Paper documents four basic facts about investment goods and investment prices. First, investment has a very significant non-tradable component in the form of construction services. Second, distributions services (wholesaling, retailing, and transportation) are much less important for...