TY  - JOUR
AU  - Caballero,Ricardo
AU  - Krishnamurthy,Arvind
TI  - Exchange Rate Volatility and the Credit Channel in Emerging Markets: A Vertical Perspective
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 10517
PY  - 2004
Y2  - May 2004
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w10517
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w10517.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Ricardo J. Caballero
MIT
Department of Economics
Room E52-373a
Cambridge, MA 02142-1347
Tel: 617/253-0489
Fax: 617/253-6915
E-Mail: caball@mit.edu

Arvind Krishnamurthy
Kellogg School of Management
Northwestern University
2001 Sheridan Road
Evanston, IL 60208
Tel: 847/491-2671
Fax: 847/491-5719
E-Mail: a-krishnamurthy@northwestern.edu
AB  - Firms in emerging markets are exposed to severe financial frictions and credit constraints, that are exacerbated by the sudden stop of capital inflows. Can monetary policy offset this external credit squeeze? We show that although this may be the case during moderate contractions (or in partial equilibrium), the expansionary effect of monetary policy vanishes during severe external crises. The exchange rate jumps to reduce the dollar value of domestic collateral until equilibrium in domestic financial markets is consistent with the external constraint. An expansionary monetary policy in this context raises the value of domestic collateral but it exacerbates the exchange rate depreciation (beyond the standard interest parity effect) and has little effect on aggregate activity. However there is a dynamic linkage between monetary policy and sudden stops. The anticipation of a dogged defense of the exchange rate worsens the consequences of sudden stops by distorting the private sector incentive to take precautions against these shocks. For similar general equilibrium reasons, dollarization of liabilities has limited impact during a sudden stop, but it has significant underinsurance consequences.
ER  -