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Purchasing Power Parity
FIN 40500: International Finance
The relationship between exchange rates and prices starts with a very basic idea – ANY PRODUCT SHOULD COST THE SAME EVERYWHERE.
Suppose that a BMW sells for $40,000 in the United States and E 30,000 in Germany. The current exchange rate is $1.25 per Euro.
1 Borrow $37,500 and convert it to Euros at $1.25/Euro.
$37,500$1.25
= E 30,000
2 Buy a BMW in Germany for E30,000 and ship it back to the US.
3 Sell the car in the US for $40,000
500,2$)500,37$000,40($* ePP A 6.7% return
The act of arbitrage should eliminate the profit opportunity
Suppose that a BMW sells for $40,000 in the United States and E 30,000 in Germany. The current exchange rate is $1.25 per Euro.
*ePP
1 Increased demand for Euros should increase the price of a Euro.
2 Increased demand for BMWs in Germany should increase the German price .
3 Increased supply in US should drive down US price
The Law of One Price (LOOP) states that, given a domestic and foreign price, there is only one arbitrage free exchange rate
$40, 000= $1.33 per Euro
E30,000
As in the previous example, if the Euro is undervalued relative to LOOP, buy in Europe and sell in the US
if the Euro is overvalued relative to LOOP, buy in US and sell in Europe
*ePP
PeP *
The arbitrage free exchange rate is given by the ratio of prices
*P
Pe
Domestic Price
Foreign Price
Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) refers to the same concept as the Law of One Price, with specific prices replaced by general price indices
England
CPI = 195.0 (March 2006)
USA
CPI = 199.8 (March 2006)
PPP Exchange Rate
e = CPI (USA)CPI (UK)
199.8195.0
= = $1.025/L
Currently, the British Pound is trading at $1.786
$1.786 – $1.025$1.205
X 100 = 74%Is the British pound really overvalued by 74%?
One problem with this method had to do with how the CPI (in both the US and Britain) are calculated:
Suppose that we have two goods: BMWs and Computers
000,3$
000,40$
C
BMW
P
P
2006
250,2$
000,30$
C
BMW
P
P
1992
A price index is defined as a weighted average of individual good’s prices
500,21$000,3$5.000,40$5. PCPI2006
1992
CBMW PPCPI 5.5.
125,16$250,2$5.000,30$5. CPI
The prices are then normalized by a ‘base year’
1001992 CPI 3.133100125,16$
500,21$2006
CPI
We can correct for this by looking at PPP in relative terms
England
Inflation = 2.4%
(12 months)
USA
Inflation = 3.4%
(12 months)
*% e4.24.3
%1The dollar should depreciate by 1% against the pound
12 months ago, the British pound was trading at $1.904
$1.904 ( 1.01) = $1.923
$1.786 – $1.923$1.923
X 100 = -7.1% Now, it looks like the British pound is undervalued
Its easy to calculate currency values with the PPP method. Just compare inflation differentials with actual currency price changes!
What’s a better currency predictor, Coffee or Burgers?
The right answer is “neither!”
Country Exchange Rate (12/2003)
Inflation Differential
(US-Foreign)
PPP implied exchange rate
Actual Exchange Rate (12/2004)
JPY/USD .00928 3.5% .00960 .00963
EUR/USD 1.23 -.5% 1.224 1.34
GBP/USD 1.75 1.5% 1.776 1.93
CAD/USD .761 -.5% .757 .820
CHF/USD .791 1% .799 .872
AUD/USD .740 .5% .7437 .768
Overall, it turns out that inflation differentials alone provide a relatively poor forecast of the exchange rate
The exception would be countries with notoriously high inflation rates – Zimbabwe has a 585% annual inflation rate (2006). From 1998 to 2006, the Zimbabwe dollar fell from 24 per US dollar to 96,000!!!
Alternatively, we could estimate a forecasting equation using inflation differentials
*% ttte
Percentage change is exchange rate (dollars per foreign currency) – an increase is a depreciation
Parameters to be estimated – PPP implies that alpha is zero and beta is one
Typically, estimated values for beta are close to zero and statistically insignificant
The real exchange rate is the price level adjusted exchange rate. Its meant to capture the relative value of goods and services across countries
P
PeRER
*
Nominal Exchange Rate
Domestic CPI
Foreign CPI
By definition, the PPP explanation of exchange rates assumes that the real exchange rate is constant (and equal to one)
50
100
150
200
250
300
Jan-85 Jan-89 Jan-93 Jan-97
Yen/$ Real
Empirically, real exchange rates are clearly not constant. In fact, the correlation between real and nominal exchange rates is nearly one. This casts some serious doubt on PPP.
In reality, there are costs that will inhibit arbitrage of goods between countries. Let’s take another look at our BMW example.
000,30
000,40$* EP
P
Let’s assume that it costs $5,000 to ship a BMW from Germany to the US (12.5% of the purchase price)
0000,5$* ePP
For arbitrage to occur, it must be profitable
Buy in Germany, Sell in the US
Insert the appropriate prices and solve for the exchange rate
0000,5$000,30000,40 e 17.1$e
In reality, there are costs that will inhibit arbitrage of goods between countries. Let’s take another look at our BMW example.
000,30
000,40$* EP
P
Let’s assume that it costs $5,000 to ship a BMW from Germany to the US (12.5% of the purchase price)
0000,5$* PeP
We also have to consider the alternative strategy
Buy US, Sell in Germany
Insert the appropriate prices and solve for the exchange rate
0000,5$000,40000,30 e 50.1$e
In reality, there are costs that will inhibit arbitrage of goods between countries. Let’s take another look at our BMW example.
000,30
000,40$* EP
P
Let’s assume that it costs $5,000 to ship a BMW from Germany to the US (12.5% of the purchase price)
Time
e
17.1$
50.1$
The shipping cost provides a range within which arbitrage can’t occur
No Arbitrage Possible
Buy in US, Sell in Germany
Buy in Germany, Sell in US
This range represents a 24% change in the value of the dollar !!
A 24% band encompasses much of the EUR/USD movement!
Suppose that there are two goods in each country; haircuts and beer. Note that haircuts are a non-traded good.
15205105
20
10
*
*
*
E)(E.)(E.P
EP
EP
H
B
18$24$512$5
24$
12$
)(.)(.P
P
P
Price indices in Europe and the US are defined equally (50% Beer, 50% Haircut)
Europe United States
At an exchange rate of $1.20 per Euro, LOOP holds for each individual good and PPP holds for the index – the real exchange rate equals 1
20.1$**
H
H
B
B
P
P
P
P1
18
1520.1
*
P
ePRER
Now, suppose that the price of a haircut rises in Europe to E30 – because a haircut is not traded, there is no need for the exchange rate to adjust
20305105
30
10
*
*
*
E)(E.)(E.P
EP
EP
H
B
18$24$512$5
24$
12$
)(.)(.P
P
P
Europe United States
The 25% inflation should cause a 25% depreciation of the Euro (i.e. a fall in the EUR/USD to $.90, but this doesn’t happen.
33.118
2020.1
*
P
ePRER
Instead, the Euro appreciates in real terms by 33%!!
Education & Communication
5%
Tobacco & Smoking Products
1%
Recreation6%
Medical6%
Housing40%
Food & Beverage16%
Apparel5%
Personal Care4%
Transportation17%
US CPI
The previous example represented an increase in the relative price of a non-traded good. This causes a real appreciation of a country’s currency
When you consider that over 50% of the US CPI is non-traded, these relative price changes are important!!
Now, suppose that the two goods are beer and peanuts – assume that more beer is consumed in Europe than in the US
95201080
5
10
*
*
*
E)(E.)(E.P
EP
EP
p
B
2.7$6$8012$20
6$
12$
)(.)(.P
P
P
Europe United States
At an exchange rate of $1.20 per Euro, LOOP holds for each individual good, but PPP does not hold!
20.1$**
p
p
B
B
P
P
P
P 50.120.7
920.1
*
P
ePRER
Now, suppose that the price of beer in increases by 50% worldwide
135201580
5
15
*
*
*
E)(E.)(E.P
EP
EP
p
B
40.8$6$8018$20
6$
18$
)(.)(.P
P
P
Europe United States
Europe experiences a 36% inflation rate while the US experiences a 15% inflation rate. The nominal exchange rate is constant, LOOP still holds for each individual good but the Euro experiences a real appreciation
20.1$**
p
p
B
B
P
P
P
P 85.140.8
1320.1
*
P
ePRER
% Change in Nominal Exchange Rate
=% Change in Real Exchange Rate
+Inflation Differential
Relative Price Movements
Given the importance of relative prices (real exchange rate movements), we can use a modified version of PPP.
The two major relative price movements are:
Relative price of non-traded goods (causes a real currency appreciation)
Terms of Trade (relative price of imports) – an increase in the relative price of imports (worsening of the terms of trade) causes a real depreciation
The competing alternative explanation deals with differing adjustment speeds across different markets.
P
PeRER
*
Exchange rates are determined in asset markets – new information is incorporated rapidly into prices Prices are determined in commodity
markets – new information is incorporated slowly into prices.
Therefore any nominal movement will be reflected in the real exchange rate until commodity prices can “catch up”
How can we tell the difference between “sticky prices” and relative price movements?
RER
RER
Time
Time
1
1
If the “sticky price” story is correct, then the real exchange rate should be mean stationary
If the “relative price” story is correct, then the real exchange rate will not be mean stationary – i.e. real exchange rates are unpredictable!