II. Purchasing Power Parity
i. Intuition
The basic idea underlying purchasing power parity is the law of one price. That is to say, once the prices of the same bundle of goods in different countries are measured using the same currency, they should be identical. As a consequence, no arbitrage in equilibrium will force the goods prices to be equalised internationally.
Consider a situation where there are only 2 countries, say, China with the Chinese yuan as its currency unit and Japan with the Japanese yen as its currency unit. We can express the exchange rate as either the number of yuan per yen, or its reciprocal the number of yen per yuan. For instance, suppose that the exchange rate, defined as the number of yen it takes to buy one
…show more content…
Thus, for this example, we can see that if PPP holds, there is equalisation in goods prices internationally.
The key to the appealingness of PPP is that that if PPP is valid, then there is no goods arbitrage, which indicates that it is impossible that economic agents can gain riskless profit by exploiting price differences. Suppose the price of the good is 100 CNY in China and 2000 JPY in Japan, and the exchange rate is 0.01 CNY: 1 JPY. Then this good could be bought for 2000 JPY in Japan and imported into China (assuming no transportation costs) at selling at a price which when converted into yuan at the going exchange rate would be 20 yuan (=2000×0.01), some 80 yuan less than the domestic price. In this case, the existence of arbitrage opportunities will force the exchange rate to be adjusted in order to reflect the relative price of the good in the two countries. As a result, the exchange rate should adjust to 0.05 CNY: 1 JPY for the sake of ruling out arbitrage opportunities. It is assumed that there is no transportation costs in this example; however, even if transportation costs do exist, economic agents may still be able to gain riskless profit. If the cost of importation is 100 yen per unit, which is equal to 1 yuan at the current exchange rate, the imported good is still 79 yuan cheaper. ii. Complications of Testing PPP
According to
One needs to have a base level understanding of what defines an exchange rate. According to Investopedia, a foreign exchange rate is “The price of one country's currency expressed in another country's currency. In other words, the rate at which one currency can be exchanged for another.”(Investopedia, 2012) The process by which foreign exchange rates are determined is really not any different than any other
3. Suppose that before trade takes place, the United States is at a point on its PPC where it produces 20 loaves of bread and 20 units of steel. Once trade becomes possible, the price of a unit of steel is 2 units of bread. In response, the United States moves along its PPC to a new point where it produces 30 unites of steel and 10 units of bread. Is the country better off?
Imagine initially that the two countries are not trading and that they are each producing at point ‘c’ and keeping all their produce for themselves. Do you think the two nations can benefit from specialization and trade? Explain your answer using the concept of comparative advantage and opportunity costs. First, identify the opportunity cost for each country in each good, and then say which country has a comparative advantage in which good. Note if both countries fully specialize at point e there will be less teacups in the market than prior to trade. Note that Ying at point d and Tai at point e in fact guarantees a gain from trade. Drawing and recognizing the PPF correctly also counts. 4. Using the appropriate diagrams, detail the impact on the
A price escalation strategy consists of using the price has been determined for the domestic market and then adding the costs of shipping, duties and markups to come up with a final retail price. This strategy ensures that the company not only recovers the cost of the export venture, but also includes a built in profit per item. Because they begin with charging the amount that they would otherwise sell for in the United States – one that brings with it a profit – they are promising themselves returns at least equal to that which they would receive if they continued to sell domestically. The price is ultimately higher than that which is derived from a cost escalation strategy, but with a higher end product – like those produced by Polyprin – a higher price is not at all detrimental to the likelihood of its success.
Exchange rates play a pivotal role in the relationships between individual economies and the global economy. Almost all financial flows are processed through the exchange rate, as a result the movements and fluctuations of the exchange have a significant impact on international competitiveness, trade flows, investment decisions and many other factors within the economy. Due to the increasing globalisation of the world economy, trade and financial flows are becoming more accessible
This opportunity provides a gain from exchange as domestic consumers buy cheaper imported goods and producers can export goods at higher foreign prices.
It is the most remarkable conclusion of the Heckscher-Olin theory that trade can equalize the price of each factor of production across countries. Nevertheless, the long-term effect didn’t complete in the real world, especially in China. On majoy
If the scales should go out of balance then trade and international relations are damaged. If this happens the trading partners will counter with tariffs and quotas of their own. (Colander, 2010)
Surpluses put pressure on prices to fall. Hence, the new market equilibrium will be at a price that is lower than P*.
“Bertrand's theory describes a duopoly market in which two firms are competing with each other through a price war. As per the assumptions made, if the price of a good from 'Firm 1' is less than the price charged by 'Firm 2' then, all the consumers will buy goods only from Firm 1. And, Firm 1 will be able to cater to all the consumer demands. However, if Firm 2 also reduces its price making it equal to the equal to the price charged by Firm 1, then, the total demand and the total sale will be equally divided between the two firms. If the price war continues, then firms eventually will reach a point where they will charge a 'Marginal Price'. After reaching this point none of the firms can further lower their prices and will reach a point of stagnancy.”
There has been a long standing controversy among the economist about the validity of PPP (Purchasing Power Parity) in the long run. The parity reveals that prices in two different economies should be identical to each other when they expressed in terms of the same currency. It is a central building block in the monetary models of exchange rate determination. One of the most common practices, to test the validity of PPP is through unit root test of real exchange rate. In this paper unit root test has been done based on the data on Bangladesh and its major trading partner India, to see whether exchange rate has unit root or not. It has been found out that the PPP holds i.e. real exchange is not trend stationary in the
Due to the differences between the countries in its profitable fundamentals; the International Trade occurs. The contracts between the countries consider as the primary driver of the global exchange. These contracts concluded on the basis of the countries beneficial elements and advantages. Each international trade between the countries depends on numerous focal points of this exchange process. The economics and producers effectiveness measured by absolute advantage for these economics/producers. For example; if the producer needs lesser amount of contributions/inputs to provide specific product, then this producer has an absolute advantage in producing
International trade affects the economy by increasing the Aggregate Demand (AD), and by becoming a source of inputs for production. International trade based on the theory of comparative advantage will improve efficiency in allocating resources, as well as allow businesses to reach economies of scale - "the situation in which costs per unit of output fall as output increases", consequently reaching competitive prices of international markets (Colander, 2004, p. 428). When an economy involves itself in trade, under the right circumstances, it is able to shift the Production Possibility Curve (PPC) curve outward, and achieve greater levels of output. This increase in production can be achieved through the use of more resources
Price discrimination can be analysed using the concept of MC and MR. The firms need to allocate production between the two markets so that the MR is identical for each market if it is to maximise profit.MR in market A is higher than MR in market B. By switching products from B to A, the firms can increase its revenue from a given output.MR in market B will now rise because it can charge a higher price if it sells less.MR in market A will fall because it has to lower price to sell more. For example, if MR in
Kiguel and O 'Connell (1995), have written one of the most comprehensive studies to date on the topic of dual exchange rate systems in developing countries. They posit that, although dual exchange rates are not strange arrangements in emerging countries, given their limited effectiveness, they are “often liberalized at some point in favor of a unified foreign exchange market” (op. cit.).