Export Instability and the External Balance in Developing Countries

Export Instability and the External Balance in Developing Countries
ISBN-10
145192772X
ISBN-13
9781451927726
Category
Business & Economics
Pages
30
Language
English
Published
1994-01-01
Publisher
International Monetary Fund
Authors
Mr.Jonathan David Ostry, Mr.Atish R. Ghosh

Description

Uncertainty about the export earnings accruing to a country (sometimes referred to as export instability) is an important source of macroeconomic uncertainty in many developing countries. Theory predicts that countries should react to increases in this form of uncertainty by increasing their level of savings. The resulting asset accumulations would then act as the country’s insurance against the greater riskiness in its income stream. The paper tests this implication for a large sample of developing countries. In general, the results suggest that developing countries have indeed responded to increases in export instability by building up precautionary savings balances.

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