Yen-dollar Exchange Rate Research Articles

On the Desirability of a Regional Basket Currency Arrangement

This paper constructs a theoretical model of international trade in order to examine an optimal exchange rate regime for (Asian) emerging market economies that export goods to the United States, Japan, and neighboring countries. The optimality of the exchange rate regime is defined as minimizing the fluctuation of trade balances, in the environment where the yen–dollar exchange rate fluctuates exogenously. Since the de facto dollar peg regime is blamed as one of the factors that caused the Asian currency crisis, the question of the optimal exchange rate regime is quite relevant in Asia. The novelty of this paper is to show how an emerging market economy's choice of the exchange rate regime (or weights in the basket) is dependent on the neighboring country's. The dollar weights in the currency baskets of the two countries are determined as a Nash equilibrium. We show that they may be stuck at the dollar peg system in both stable and unstable equilibrium cases. Even in a stable equilibrium case, there are multiple equilibria and a coordination failure may occur. J. Japan. Int. Econ., September 2002, 16(3), pp. 317–334. Department of Commerce and Management, Hitotsubashi University, Kunitachi, Tokyo 186-8601, Japan; and Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University, Kunitachi, Tokyo 186-8601, Japan; Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Tokyo, Meguro, Tokyo 153-8904, Japan. © 2002 Elsevier Science (USA). Journal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers: F31, F33, O11.

Weak Economy and Strong Currency — The Origins of the Strong Yen in the 1990s

During the 1990s the Japanese yen proved astonishingly strong despite the persisting recession. This paper tracks the origins of the high yen. It analyses the influence of interest rates, prices and foreign exchange policy on the yendollar exchange rate. It comes to the conclusion that real interest differentials can only explain short-term exchange rate changes. Since prices have been exerting their influence on the Japanese currency in the long run, the high yen is explained with deflation. The massive foreign exchange interventions of the 1990s were only able to stop the appreciation temporarily, if they were unsterilized, but they had no lasting effects. <bold>Zusammenfassung</bold> <bold>Schwache Wirtschaft und starke Währung — die Ursachen des starken Yen in den 90er Jahren</bold> Der Yen ist in der japanischen Rezession der 90er Jahre überraschend stark geblieben. Der Aufsatz untersucht die Ursachen für den hohen Yen. Er analysiert den Einfluss von Zinsen, Preisen und Währungspolitik. Danach haben reale Zinsdifferenzen allenfalls einen kurzfristigen Einfluss auf den Wechselkurs. Langfristig ist das Preisniveau entscheidend, so dass der hohe Yen mit der Deflation der 90er Jahre erklärt werden kann. Die massiven Devisenmarktinterventionen der 90er Jahre konnten die Aufwertung nur vorübergehend aufhalten, wenn sie nicht sterilisiert wurden. Langfristig konnten sie jedoch die Aufwertung nicht verhindern.

Parameter instability, superexogeneity, and the monetary model of the exchange rate

Parameter Instability, Superexogeneity and the Monetary Model of the Exchange Rate. — This paper argues that failure to test for parameter time invariance yields misleading results. Time heterogeneity other than unit roots will make the parameters of the unrestricted system unstable and statistical inference invalid. However, if the instability stems from a particular subset of variables (superexogenous with respect to the parameters of interest), conditioning on them results in a partial model with stable parameters, and standard inferential procedures can then be used. We apply this methodology to test the monetary model of the exchange rate and find that both system and single-equation estimates support it in the case of yen-dollar exchange rate.

A characteristic time scale in dollar–yen exchange rates

Here we analyze tick data of yen–dollar exchange using random walk methods. We find that there exists a characteristic time scale approximately at 10 min. According to the results at time scales shorter than 10 min, the market exhibits anti-persistence meaning that it self-organizes so as to restore a given tendency. For time scales longer than 10 min the market approaches a behavior appropriate to pure Brownian motion.

Purchasing Power Parity: Granger Causality Tests for the Yen-Dollar Exchange Rate

The paper analyses the causality between the Japanese-US relative export prices and the yen-dollar exchange rate. It explains why the Japanese yen proved strong even during the economic slump of the 1990s. The paper suggests that the appreciation of the Japanese yen forced the Japanese enterprises into price reductions and productivity increases, which put a floor under the high level of the yen and thus initiated rounds of appreciation. This corresponds to the conjecture of a vicious (virtuous) circle of appreciation and price adaptation.

An innovation approach to non-Gaussian time series analysis

The paper shows that the use of both types of random noise, white noise and Poisson noise, can be justified when using an innovations approach. The historical background for this is sketched, and then several methods of whitening dependent time series are outlined, including a mixture of Gaussian white noise and a compound Poisson process: this appears as a natural extension of the Gaussian white noise model for the prediction errors of a non-Gaussian time series. A statistical method for the identification of non-linear time series models with noise made up of a mixture of Gaussian white noise and a compound Poisson noise is presented. The method is applied to financial time series data (dollar-yen exchange rate data), and illustrated via six models.

An innovation approach to non-Gaussian time series analysis

The paper shows that the use of both types of random noise, white noise and Poisson noise, can be justified when using an innovations approach. The historical background for this is sketched, and then several methods of whitening dependent time series are outlined, including a mixture of Gaussian white noise and a compound Poisson process: this appears as a natural extension of the Gaussian white noise model for the prediction errors of a non-Gaussian time series. A statistical method for the identification of non-linear time series models with noise made up of a mixture of Gaussian white noise and a compound Poisson noise is presented. The method is applied to financial time series data (dollar-yen exchange rate data), and illustrated via six models.

The Louvre Accord and central bank intervention: was there a target zone?

This paper presents an empirical analysis of central bank intervention during the 10-month period following the Louvre Accord. We first examine whether the Bank of Japan and the Federal Reserve adopted a target zone in order to stabilize the yen–dollar exchange rate, by using daily foreign exchange intervention data. We then estimate the expected future exchange rate and the expected rate of devaluation in order to verify if there was a credible target zone. On the basis of these two tests, we conclude that the central banks did adopt a target zone during the period following the Louvre Accord, but that the target zone for the yen–dollar exchange rate was not credible.

The real dollar-yen exchange rate, asymmetries in trade flows and the current account in a perfect-foresight model for developing East Asia

This paper explores permanent, unanticipated shocks in the yen-dollar exchange rate in a perfect-foresight, infinite-horizon, representative-agent model for an open, semismall economy that produces a single good, imports intermediate inputs and investment goods from Japan and competes with Japan in external markets. Therefore, the model captures some of the features of the developing countries of East Asia. External debt is constrained by a country-risk premium that depends on the level of external debt. The capital stock is maintained and incremented by an endogenous mixture of Japanese and home goods. An appreciation of the dollar against the yen is neutral for external indebtedness and the trade account in the long run, but raises the capital stock, consumption and hence welfare in the long run; the home currency depreciates against the dollar but appreciates against the yen. Whether a cycle of current account surpluses followed by current account deficits or vice versa is generated depends on the initial response of the shadow value of external debt.

U.S. Intervention: Assessing the Probability of Success

This paper estimates the unconditional and conditional probabilities that U.S. interventions successfully smooth short-term mark-dollar and yen-dollar exchange rates. The sample period extends from February 1987 to February 1990. Assuming a binomial distribution, the number of observed successes usually is greater than one would expect to see randomly. Results from a logit model suggest that coordinated intervention has a higher probability of success than unilateral intervention. The probability of success also increases with the dollar amount of an intervention. Other conditioning variables are not significant. The paper presents a reaction function, with adjustments for the incidentally truncated nature of intervention data. Predicted values serve as instruments for intervention in the logit models.

'Once-in-a-Generation' Yen Volatility in 1998: Fundamentals, Intervention, and Order Flow

The yen provided foreign exchange market participants with 'once-in-a-generation' volatility movements in 1998. For instance, after many months of uneven yen depreciation a remarkable period of yen appreciation was experienced where, in one two-day period, the U.S. dollar dropped in value by 20 yen, market-makers were refusing to quote yen/dollar prices for more than $1 million, and funds with short yen positions incurred massive losses. Not since the early 1970s has the yen-dollar exchange rate experienced such shifts. Analysts claimed that the yen reversal was due to order flow driven by changing tastes for risk and hedge-fund herding on unwinding yen 'carry trade' positions rather than any fundamentals related to the yen. In this paper, we examine the high-frequency evidence on the yen/dollar exchange rate in 1998 and provide a detailed characterization of the return volatility. Evidence of shifting fundamentals is provided by a comprehensive list of macroeconomic announcements from both the U.S. and Japan. While macroeconomic announcements and intervention are found to have significant effects on volatility, our results lead to the conclusion that order flow played a more important role than news regarding fundamentals. Evidence regarding the independent effect of order flow was provided by spot, forward, and futures positions of major market participants. These position changes are found to be significant determinants of volatility. Since such portfolio shifts are revealed to the market through trading, the results are consistent with order flow playing a significant role in the revelation of private information and the associated exchange rate shifts.

The Dollar Exposure of Japanese Companies

The bulk of Japanese exports and imports are denominated in U.S. dollars rather than Japan's local currency, the yen. The consequences of dollar invoicing depend importantly on the extent to which Japanese companies hedge their dollar exposures. If they fully hedge their dollar exposures, then the choice of invoicing currency will not influence the yen profits of Japanese companies. This paper examines the degree to which Japanese companies hedge by estimating their exposure to movements in the dollar. Using Japanese stock market data and an international version of the CAPM model I estimate the extent to which Japanese company returns are correlated with changes in the yen–dollar exchange rate. The results suggest many Japanese companies are indeed exposed to yen–dollar movements and that dollar appreciations generally are positively correlated with firm returns. Since over the period 1984 to 1995, the dollar depreciated by 36% relative to the yen, it follows that the values of Japanese companies fell as a consequence of their dollar exposure.J. Japan. Int. Econ.Dec. 1998,12(4), pp. 388–405. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1220.Copyright 1998 Academic Press.Journal of Economic LiteratureClassification Numbers F31, G12, F23.

Central bank intervention and exchange rate volatility

This paper explores the effects of foreign exchange intervention by central banks on the behavior of exchange rates. The G-3 central banks have undertaken an unprecedented number of both coordinated and unilateral intervention operations in the last 10 years. Existing empirical evidence on the effectiveness of intervention is mixed: studies using data from the 1970s suggest that intervention operations that do not affect the monetary base have, at most, a short-lived influence on exchange rates, but more recent studies indicate that the intervention operations that followed the Plaza Agreement influenced both the level and variance of exchange rates. This paper examines the effects of US, German and Japanese monetary and intervention policies on dollar-mark and dollar-yen exchange rate volatility over the 1977–1994 period. The results indicate that intervention operations generally increase exchange rate volatility. This is particularly true of secret interventions, which are those undertaken by central banks without notification of the public. Overt interventions in the mid-1980s appear to have reduced exchange rate volatility, but in other periods, and for the 1977–1994 period as a whole, central bank intervention is associated with greater exchange rate volatility.

The conditional heteroscedasticity of the yen–dollar exchange rate

The conditional heteroscedasticity of the yen–dollar exchange rate

The conditional heteroscedasticity of the yen-dollar exchange rate

This paper examines the conditional heteroscedasticity of the yen–dollar exchange rate. A model is constructed by extending the asymmetric power autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity model to a process that is fractionally integrated. It is found that, unlike the equity markets, the appreciation and depreciation shocks of the yen against the dollar have similar effects on future volatilities. Although the results reject both the stable and the integrated models, our analysis of the response coefficients of the past shocks and the application of the models to the estimation of the capital requirements for trading the currencies show that there are no substantial differences between the fractionally integrated models and the stable models. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Development and innovation in the Japanese chemical industry

This paper sets out to review the process of Japan's post-war economic development and the role of government's industrial policy from a historical perspective. It also reviews – against the background of the fundamental changes in Japan's economic paradigm in the aftermath of the end of the Cold War – the emergence of the Asia–Pacific region, the bursting of the bubble economy and the sharp appreciation of the yen–dollar exchange rate. In particular, the paper examines how the Japanese chemical industry is trying to meet enormous challenges through the restructuring of business operations, intensification of R&D and strategic alliances at home and abroad.

Dollar and Yen: Resolving Economic Conflict Between the United States and Japan.

From the mid-1950s to the early 1990s, Japan grew faster than any other major industrial economy, displacing the United States in dominance of worldwide manufacturing markets. In the 1970s and 1980s, many books appeared linking the apparent decline of the United States in the world economy to unfair Japanese practices that closed the Japanese market to a wide range of foreign goods. Dollar and Yen analyzes the friction between the United States and Japan from the viewpoint of exchange rate economics. The authors argue against the prevailing view that the trade imbalance should be corrected by dollar depreciation, saying that adjustment through the exchange rate is both ineffective and costly. Stepping outside the traditional dichotomy between international trade and international finance, they link the yen's tremendous appreciation from 1971 to mid-1995 to mercantile pressure from the United States arising from trade tensions between the two countries. Although sometimes resisted by the Bank of Japan, this yen appreciation nevertheless forced unwanted deflation on the Japanese economy after 1985--resulting in two major recessions (endaka fukyos). The authors argue for relaxing commercial tensions between the two countries, and for limiting future economic downturns, by combining a commercial compact for mutual trade liberalization with a monetary accord for stabilizing the yen-dollar exchange rate.

Dynamics of the yen-dollar real exchange rate and the US-Japan real trade balance

This paper employs cointegration and error correction models to examine the dynamics of the yen-dollar real exchange rate and the US-Japan real trade balance. It uses quarterly data from 1973.I–1993.IV. The unit root tests reveal non-stationarity in both the variables. The ADF test fails to affirm any long-run association between the yen-dollar real exchange rate and the US-Japan real trade balance. Also, there is evidence of bidirectional short-run Granger causality between these two variables with mutual feedbacks.

Estimating unknown join points: Determination of the yen-dollar exchange rate

We propose a Bayesian procedure to estimate a switching regression in which the number of switching points (i.e. join points) is not known. We apply the Bayesian procedure to a regression model for the yen-dollar exchange rate using monthly data from January 1973 to June 1992. We identify three join points in January 1978, September 1988, and March 1990. We compare the post-sample forecast performances of our switching regression model to those of other regression models. The post-sample forecasts show that the Bayesian switching model performs better than the other models.

Optimal hedging of stock portfolios against foreign exchange risk: theory and applications

This paper applies a formula for the optimal hedge in a mean-variance framework to an investment in the Nikkei 225. It is shown that through hedging U.S. investors can construct a portfolio long in the Nikkei whose dollar excess return has the same volatility as the yen excess return of the Nikkei. There seems to be little gain from improving estimates of the exposure of the Nikkei to the dollar-yen exchange rate; in contrast, the performance of portfolios can be enhanced substantially by obtaining better forecasts of exchange rate changes.