On the link between the real exchange rate and domestic investment in Asia: Are there asymmetric effects?

Abstract

Previous research that assessed the asymmetric impact of currency depreciation on domestic investment considered experiences of seven industrialized countries, six emerging economies, and eighteen countries from Africa. We add to this new literature by considering the experiences of eight Asian countries. Like previous studies, our asymmetric analysis that required estimating nonlinear models revealed much more significant outcome than the linear and symmetric models. It predicted short-run asymmetric effects of exchange rate changes on domestic investment in all eight countries that lasted into long-run asymmetric effects in Hong Kong, Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, and Singapore. Additional analysis revealed that currency depreciation has adverse long-run effects on domestic investment in all five countries.