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Title: Global Imbalances Revisited: The Transfer Problem and Transport Costs in Monopolistic Competition

Author(s): Paolo Epifani and Gino Gancia

Publication Date: December 2015

Keyword(s): intermediate goods, monopolistic competition, trade costs and trade imbalances

Programme Area(s): International Macroeconomics and Finance and International Trade and Regional Economics

Abstract: We study the welfare effects of trade imbalances in a two-sector model of monopolistic competition. As in perfect competition, a trade surplus involves an income transfer to the deficit country and possibly a terms-of-trade deterioration. Unlike the conventional wisdom, however, trade imbalances do not impose any double burden on surplus countries. This is because of a production-delocation effect, which leads to a reduction in the local price index. In the presence of intermediate goods, new results arise: A trade surplus may lead to an appreciation of the exchange rate, to a terms-of-trade improvement and to a welfare increase under standard parameter configurations. In addition, policies that stabilize the exchange rate can make the balanced-trade equilibrium unstable. These results can explain why the manufacturing sector may agglomerate in countries that resist the real appreciation of their currency and suggest that a fixed exchange rate and nominal rigidities may generate short-run instability.

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Bibliographic Reference

Epifani, P and Gancia, G. 2015. 'Global Imbalances Revisited: The Transfer Problem and Transport Costs in Monopolistic Competition'. London, Centre for Economic Policy Research. https://cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=11014