scholarly journals The Validity of the Purchasing Power Parity Hypothesis for Kuwait

2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 188
Author(s):  
Ebrahim Merza

Many studies have tested the null hypothesis of the unit root of the real exchange rate to examine the validity of the purchasing power parity (PPP) hypothesis. Previous studies have reached different conclusions regarding that issue. This study tests the hypothesis of PPP in Kuwait using two tests of unit roots, the Augmented Dickey Fuller (ADF) and Phillips Perron (PP) tests. Using monthly data from 2006 to 2015, both tests reject the PPP hypothesis for the Kuwaiti economy. Using the components of the real exchange rate, we find that the levels of prices in both Kuwait and the US are not moving together to provide stationarity for the real exchange rate. This result could be attributed to the large increases in the prices of the housing and food and beverages sectors in Kuwait during that time.

Author(s):  
Menzie D. Chinn

The idea that prices and exchange rates adjust so as to equalize the common-currency price of identical bundles of goods—purchasing power parity (PPP)—is a topic of central importance in international finance. If PPP holds continuously, then nominal exchange rate changes do not influence trade flows. If PPP does not hold in the short run, but does in the long run, then monetary factors can affect the real exchange rate only temporarily. Substantial evidence has accumulated—with the advent of new statistical tests, alternative data sets, and longer spans of data—that purchasing power parity does not typically hold in the short run. One reason why PPP doesn’t hold in the short run might be due to sticky prices, in combination with other factors, such as trade barriers. The evidence is mixed for the longer run. Variations in the real exchange rate in the longer run can also be driven by shocks to demand, arising from changes in government spending, the terms of trade, as well as wealth and debt stocks. At time horizon of decades, trend movements in the real exchange rate—that is, systematically trending deviations in PPP—could be due to the presence of nontraded goods, combined with real factors such as differentials in productivity growth. The well-known positive association between the price level and income levels—also known as the “Penn Effect”—is consistent with this channel. Whether PPP holds then depends on the time period, the time horizon, and the currencies examined.


Ánfora ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (45) ◽  
pp. 123-143
Author(s):  
Oscar Hernán Cerquera Losada ◽  
Camilo Fabiam Gómez Segura ◽  
Cristian José Arias Barrera

Objetive: to determine the fulfillment of the purchasing power parity (PPP) theory in Colombia, the exchange rate with the US dollar using as a standard. Methodology: to check if the PPP in Colombia is achieved, monthly and quarterly data was used, which ran from January 1959 to December 2015. To do this, the longterm behavior from the real exchange rate was modeled, contrasting the unit  roots presence and structural changes. In addition, a bivariate cointegration model  was used. Results: it was found that, in the case of Colombia, the PPP theory was not  fulfilled, since the peso and the dollar are not cointegrated. Therefore, according to the unitary root methodology, the PPP hypothesis in Colombia for the period 1959- 2015 is not validated. Everything seems to indicate that the Colombian peso has little relation with the US dollar. Conclusions: the use of general price indices, which include tradable goods between countries, multiple barriers to international trade, imperfect competition and social, economic, political and cultural differences between both countries are important aspects when explaining the unfulfillment of the PPP


2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 135-144
Author(s):  
John F. Boschen

In 2011 the ongoing appreciation in the yen against the US$ led Japanese firm Shiomi to consider relocating its production facilities outside of Japan. As a prelude to making this decision, Shiomi commissioned an evaluation of the historical impact of the yen’s appreciation on Japanese competitiveness. This evaluation is the basis for two important lessons in international financial management.  First, it is the real exchange rate, rather than the nominal exchange rate, that determines the relative cost competitiveness of countries. Second, in accordance with the rules of purchasing power parity, the historical evaluation showed that higher inflation in the U.S. relative to Japan caused the ratio of Japanese to U.S. prices to fall at roughly the same rate as the yen’s appreciation against the US$. Thus the long-term appreciation in the yen had little impact on Japanese competitiveness. Students are asked to assess the relocation decision in light of the post-case data on exchange rates and consumer prices supplied in the case. The case is appropriate for use in an international financial management or international economics course.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document