IFE-Empirical Evidences

An Empirical Investigation

of the International Fisher Effect

EMIL SUNDQVIST

Social Science and Business Administration Programme

Economics Programme

Department of Business Administration and Social Sciences

Division of Economics

Supervisor: Stefan Hellmer

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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LIST OF FIGURES

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Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

The postwar period has been characterized by a significant liberalization in international trade and investment and financial markets throughout the world has become more integrated. The major economies have removed their controls on the movement of capital. The technical innovation has at the same time made it possible to transfer capital throughout the world at the speed of light. As a result the capital has become more mobile. A more mobile capital will undoubtedly affect the value of different currencies and interest rates (Hässel & Norman 1994, 14).

Free international capital movements also contributed to the break down of the Bretton Woods system in the 1970s. When the financial markets became more internationalized it led to an increase in the amount of capital trying to take advantage of currency swings. The Bretton Woods system with fixed and pegged exchange rates proved to be insufficient to cope with currency speculation. The international capital flows had made it an unstable monetary system. In 1976 were a new international system agreed on in Jamaica. Currencies were this time allowed to float and the references to the price of gold were abandoned (Solnik 2000, 5- 6).

The current international monetary system can be described as a hybrid system, where the basic market mechanisms for establishing exchange rates include the free float, managed float, target-zone arrangement and fixed-rate system. This system has led to rapidly fluctuating exchange rates, creating both problems and opportunities for actors dealing with foreign currencies (Shapiro 1998, 55-56). To protect oneself against these rapid currency changes new instruments were developed on the world capital markets in the 1970s and 1980s, such as options, swaps, futures and warrants (Internet 1).

During the last two decades a growing number of countries has abandoned their fixed or pegged exchange rate arrangements in favor of more flexible arrangements. In 1984, 21,6% of all countries had managed or independently floating arrangements. 10 years later in 1994 this number had risen to 50,6% (International Monetary Fund 1985, 18; 1995, 18). The trend

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toward greater exchange rate flexibility is a consequence of rising international capital mobility. The rise of the international capital mobility has made it difficult for many governments to defend their fixed or pegged exchange rates or even pursue independent macroeconomic policies (Eichengreen 1996, 188). Defending an exchange rate could turn out to be very costly and even pointless when speculators attack a currency. Governments trying to defend their currencies have been forced to maintain high interest rates to prevent capital outflows. High interest rates that actually hindrance the economic growth and further hurting the economy (Solnik 2000, 74).

Theories aiming to explain and understand the interaction of international monetary variables will become increasingly more important if the deregulation and international integration of financial markets throughout the world continues. One theory linking exchange, interest and inflation rates is the International Fisher Effect. It states that the future spot rate of exchange can be determined from the nominal interest differential. The real interest rates will in turn be equalized across the world through arbitrage. This means that the difference in the observed nominal rates will be stemming from differences in expected inflation rates. The differences in anticipated inflation that are imbedded in the nominal interest rates are expected to affect the future spot rate of exchange. The effect on the exchange rate is also more likely to occur under flexible exchange rate arrangements, where the currencies exchange rates are allowed to fluctuate without the intervention of governments.

1.1 Purpose

The purpose of this thesis is to describe the theory of the International Fisher Effect and test its empirical validity in the long run.

Question

• According to the International Fisher Effect it will be a tendency for countries with relatively high nominal interest rates to have depreciating currencies and those with relatively low nominal interest rates to have appreciating currencies. In other words, the nominal interest differentials might be used to anticipate currency changes. Therefore I ask if there is a tendency for nominal interest differentials to offset exchange rate changes?

1.2 Method

When describing the theory of the International Fisher Effect a descriptive method will be used. For this purpose appropriate literature will be employed. The chosen literature for the

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descriptive section consists mainly of various financial literatures. The sources in use complement each other and I have tried to form a general picture of the theory of the International Fisher Effect.

For the empirical investigation a statistical test will be employed to historical exchange rates and nominal interests. Quarterly nominal interest differentials relative to US interest rates for five countries between the years 1993-2000 will be calculated together with exchange rate changes for the same five countries relative to the US dollar. A regression analysis will then be applied to the nominal interest differentials and the exchange rate changes. The regressions will use Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) estimates. The regression tests whether nominal interest differentials are a good forecast for changes in the future spot rates of exchange for the tested time frame and respective country pair.

Since I am comparing all countries to the US dollar there is a risk that the result will be country specific. The fact that I am comparing all changes relatively to the US might be part of why the International Fisher Effect holds, or not holds. This problem can of course be avoided by for example choosing more than one home country. But again, the result might only be valid for the chosen country pairs. If one should compare changes in exchange rates to nominal interest differentials to only one country I believe USA to be the most appropriate one. The US dollar is the most widely traded and used currency in the world today. The US dollar is used in 50% of all global commercial transactions and 80% of all global financial transactions (Internet 2).

Another methodological problem is that I might get a time specific result. The result might only be valid or not valid during the chosen time frame. This might be avoided by choosing more than one time period. However, the result from such study will just state that the International Fisher Effect holds or not holds for those time frames. One can argue that the result would still be time specific.

1.3 Scope

The empirical investigation covers quarterly data for the nominal interest rates and exchange rates between 1993 and 2000. For the study I have selected countries with floating exchange rates since the effects on the exchange rate is more likely to occur when the currency is allowed to fluctuate without government intervention. The chosen countries that will be

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compared to the United States are Sweden, Japan, United Kingdom, Canada and Germany. These countries currencies are during the investigated period involved in the majority of all foreign exchange transactions (Solnik 2000, 17).

1.4 Outline

Chapter 2 begins with a description of the theoretical framework. It describes the Purchasing Power Parity, the Fisher Effect and the International Fisher Effect and how these three parity relations relate to each other. The chapter also covers some results from earlier studies.

The regression model is presented in chapter 3. The chapter starts with a discussion of the efficient market hypothesis followed by a description of the regression model and the data. Chapter 4 presents the empirical results from the regressions and gives an interpretation and analyze of the regression results. Finally, chapter 5 summarizes the thesis by producing some conclusions.

Chapter 2

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

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The purpose of this chapter is to describe the theory of the International Fisher Effect and illustrate how it relates to the domestic Fisher Effect and the Purchasing Power Parity. The chapter starts with a description of the theory of Purchasing Power Parity, followed by an explanation of the Fisher Effect. Finally, these two theories will be connected to the theory of the International Fisher Effect. The chapter also present some empirical evidences for the Purchasing Power Parity, the Fisher Effect and the International Fisher Effect, where conclusions from some other studies will be presented. They demonstrate, as you will see, a somewhat diversified picture.

2.1 Purchasing Power Parity

Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) can be divided into two versions: absolute PPP and relative PPP. The absolute version states that the real price of a good must be the same in all countries. That is, all goods obey the law of one price. The relative PPP is the most commonly used version of PPP and also the one I am referring to when talking about Purchasing Power Parity. The relative version of PPP states that the exchange rate between any two countries will adjust to reflect changes in the price levels of the same two countries (Solnik 2000, 3637). For example, if inflation is 5% in Sweden and 1% in the United States, the krona value of the US dollar must fall by about 4% to equalize the krona price of goods in the two countries. The purchasing parity relation can be written as follows:

Where:

St is the domestic currency value of one unit of foreign currency at time t;

St+1 is the spot exchange rate at time t+1;

ih,t is the inflation rate at time t in the home country and; if,t is the inflation rate at time t in the foreign country.

The Purchasing Power Parity can also be presented in following approximation:

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