Pass Through of Exchange Rates to Consumption Prices: What has Changed and Why?

Jose Manuel Campa, Linda S. Goldberg

NBER Working Paper No. 12547
Issued in October 2006
NBER Program(s):   IFM    ITI

---- Abstract -----

In this paper, we use cross-county and time series evidence to argue that retail price sensitivity to exchange rates may have increased over the past decade. This finding applies to traded goods, as well as to non-traded goods. We highlight three reasons for changing pass through at the level of retail prices of goods. First, pass through may have declined at the level of import prices, but the evidence is mixed over types of goods and countries. Second, there has been a large expansion of imported input use across sectors. This means that the costs of imported goods as well as home tradable goods have heightened sensitivity to import prices and exchange rates. The final channel we consider is whether there have been changing sectoral expenditures on distribution services, with the direction of change negatively correlated with pass through into final consumption prices. We find that this channel, which has been a means of insulating consumption prices from import content and exchange rates, has not systematically changed in recent years. The balance of effects weighs in favor of increased sensitivity of consumption prices to exchange rates, even if exchange-rate pass-through into import prices has declined for some types of goods.

Would you like an annual subscription to NBER Working Papers? Click here for more information.

You may purchase this paper on-line in .pdf format from SSRN.com ($5) for electronic delivery.
Information for subscribers and others expecting no-cost downloads

Machine-readable bibliographic record - MARC, RIS, BibTeX

 

 
Publications:
Main Publications Page
 
New This Week
Working Papers
Books              
Books in Progress
Older Books Online
Digest            
Reporter            
Bulletin on Aging & Health
Historical Bulletins
Free Subscriptions
Paid Subscriptions
 
Research:
Program descriptions and members
 
Working Group Descriptions and Papers
 
Selected Projects:
Conference on Research in Income and Wealth
Conference on Econometrics and Mathematical Economics
Sloan Science and Engineering Workforce Project
Boston Census Research Data Center
 
Call for Papers
Submit to WP Series             
 
Data:
NBER Collection
Business Cycle Dates
Latest Business Cycle Memo
New Economic Releases
Selected Sources
Current Population Survey
Economic Organizations
US Government Agencies
Other Data Collections

Economic Report of the President
Economic Indicators
Congressional Budget Office
OECD Frequently Requested Statistics
 
About
What we are
Contact us
Non-data Links    
Search              
Site Map
Help              
Employment              
Fellowships
Early History
 
People:
Staff
Researchers
Board
Contact Us
Search
 
Search via Google: