Growth under Exchange Rate Volatility: Does Access to Foreign or Domestic Equity Markets Matter?

Employing a matched employer-employee dataset, this paper explores the effects of exchange rate volatility on the growth performances of domestic versus foreign, and publicly traded versus non-traded private manufacturing firms in a major developing country, Turkey. The empirical results using dynamic panel data estimation techniques and comprehensive robustness tests suggest that exchange rate volatility has a significant growth reducing effect on manufacturing firms. However, having access to foreign, and to a lesser degree, domestic equity markets is found to reduce these negative effects at significant levels. These findings continue to hold after controlling for firm heterogeneity due to differences in export orientation, external indebtedness, profitability, productivity, size, industrial characteristics, and time-variant institutional changes

Volatility of short term capital flows, financial anarchy and private investment in emerging markets

Using micro-level panel data, the paper analyses the impacts of short-term capital flow volatility on new fixed investment spending of publicly traded real sector firms in three major emerging markets that are Argentina, Mexico and Turkey. The empirical results including comprehensive sensitivity tests suggest that increasing volatility of capital inflows has an economically and statistically significant negative effect on new investment spending of private firms. Accordingly, a 10 per cent increase in capital flow volatility reduces fixed investment spending in the range of 1-1.7, 2.3-15.1, and 1 per cent in Argentina, Mexico and Turkey respectively.Capital Flow Volatility; Macroeconomic Uncertainty; Private Investment; Financial Liberalisation

Exchange Rate Volatility and Employment Growth in Developing Countries: Evidence from Turkey

Employing a unique panel of 691 private firms that accounted for 26% of total value-added in manufacturing in Turkey, the paper explores the impacts of exchange rate volatility on employment growth during the period of 1983 - 2005. The empirical analysis using a variety of specifications, estimation techniques, and robustness tests suggests that exchange rate volatility has a statistically and economically significant employment growth reducing effect on manufacturing firms. Using point estimates, the results suggest that for an average firm a one standard deviation increase in real exchange rate volatility reduces employment growth in the range of 1.4 - 2.1 percentage points.Exchange Rate Volatility; Employment Growth; Manufacturing Firms; South Eastern Europe; Turkey

The Real Exchange Rate and Development. Theory, Evidence, Issues, and Challenges

This paper surveys the theoretical and empirical literature on the effects of the real exchange rate (RER) on international trade, economic development and growth. We summarize the main conceptual issues, discuss the relevance of the RER as an instrument of development policy, provide an overview of the macroeconomic and microeconomic mechanisms that link the RER to trade and long run growth and development, analyze the challenges – especially the disconnect between theory and data -- that often arise in empirical applications, and present new avenues for future research. In the process, we present some updated estimates and illustrative figures. The mechanisms through which the RER influences long-run growth and structural change outcomes remains a promising area of research and the relevance of individual channels in different contexts deserves much more careful investigation. Greater data availability should help fill some of these gaps in our understanding

Exchange Rate Volatility and Employment Growth in Developing Countries: Evidence from Turkey

Employing a unique panel of 691 private firms that accounted for 26% of total value-added in manufacturing in Turkey, the paper explores the impacts of exchange rate volatility on employment growth during the period of 1983 - 2005. The empirical analysis using a variety of specifications, estimation techniques, and robustness tests suggests that exchange rate volatility has a statistically and economically significant employment growth reducing effect on manufacturing firms. Using point estimates, the results suggest that for an average firm a one standard deviation increase in real exchange rate volatility reduces employment growth in the range of 1.4 - 2.1 percentage points

Financial Liberalization, Private Investment and Portfolio Choice: Financialization of Real Sectors in Emerging Markets

Using firm level panel data, we analyze the impacts of rates of return gap between financial and fixed investments under uncertainty on real investment performance in three emerging markets, Argentina, Mexico and Turkey. Employing a portfolio choice model to explain the low fixed investment rates in developing countries during the 1990s, we suggest that rather than investing in irreversible long term fixed investments, firms may choose to invest in reversible short term financial investments depending on respective rates of returns and the overall uncertainty in the economy. The empirical results show that increasing rates of return gap and uncertainty have an economically and statistically significant fixed investment reducing effect while the opposite is true with respect to financial investments

Private Investment, Portfolio Choice and Financialization of Real Sectors in Emerging Markets

Using micro level panel data, we analyze the impacts of rates of return gap between fixed and financial investments under uncertainty on real investment performance in three emerging markets, Argentina, Mexico and Turkey. Employing a portfolio choice model to explain the low fixed investment rates in developing countries during the 1990s, we suggest that rather than investing on risky and irreversible long term fixed investment projects, firms may choose to invest on reversible short term financial investments depending on respective rates of returns and uncertainty in the economy. The empirical results show that increasing rates of return gap and uncertainty have an economically and statistically significant fixed investment reducing effects in all three countries while the opposite is true with respect to financial investments

Growth under Exchange Rate Volatility: Does Access to Foreign or Domestic Equity Markets Matter?

Employing a matched employer-employee dataset, this paper explores the effects of exchange rate volatility on the growth performances of domestic versus foreign, and publicly traded versus non-traded private manufacturing firms in a major developing country, Turkey. The empirical results using dynamic panel data estimation techniques and comprehensive robustness tests suggest that exchange rate volatility has a significant growth reducing effect on manufacturing firms. However, having access to foreign, and to a lesser degree, domestic equity markets is found to reduce these negative effects at significant levels. These findings continue to hold after controlling for firm heterogeneity due to differences in export orientation, external indebtedness, profitability, productivity, size, industrial characteristics, and time-variant institutional changes

Exchange Rate Volatility and Employment Growth in Developing Countries: Evidence from Turkey

Employing a unique panel of 691 private firms that accounted for 26% of total value-added in manufacturing in Turkey, the paper explores the impacts of exchange rate volatility on employment growth during the period of 1983 - 2005. The empirical analysis using a variety of specifications, estimation techniques, and robustness tests suggests that exchange rate volatility has a statistically and economically significant employment growth reducing effect on manufacturing firms. Using point estimates, the results suggest that for an average firm a one standard deviation increase in real exchange rate volatility reduces employment growth in the range of 1.4 - 2.1 percentage points

Volatility of short term capital flows, financial anarchy and private investment in emerging markets

Using micro-level panel data, the paper analyses the impacts of short-term capital flow volatility on new fixed investment spending of publicly traded real sector firms in three major emerging markets that are Argentina, Mexico and Turkey. The empirical results including comprehensive sensitivity tests suggest that increasing volatility of capital inflows has an economically and statistically significant negative effect on new investment spending of private firms. Accordingly, a 10 per cent increase in capital flow volatility reduces fixed investment spending in the range of 1-1.7, 2.3-15.1, and 1 per cent in Argentina, Mexico and Turkey respectively