BoardofGovernorsoftheFederalReserveSystemInternationalFinanceDiscussionPapers ISSN1073-2500(Print) ISSN2767-4509(Online) Number1391 July2024 ExchangeRateDisconnectandtheTradeBalance MartinBodenstein,PabloCuba-Borda,NilsGoernemann,IgnacioPresno Pleasecitethispaperas: Bodenstein,Martin,PabloCuba-Borda,NilsGoernemann,andIgnacioPresno(2024).“ExchangeRateDisconnectandtheTradeBalance,”InternationalFinanceDiscus-sionPapers1391.Washington:BoardofGovernorsoftheFederalReserveSystem,https://doi.org/10.17016/IFDP.2024.1391. NOTE:InternationalFinanceDiscussionPapers(IFDPs)arepreliminarymaterialscirculatedtostimu-latediscussionandcriticalcomment.TheanalysisandconclusionssetfortharethoseoftheauthorsanddonotindicateconcurrencebyothermembersoftheresearchstaffortheBoardofGovernors.ReferencesinpublicationstotheInternationalFinanceDiscussionPapersSeries(otherthanacknowledgement)shouldbeclearedwiththeauthor(s)toprotectthetentativecharacterofthesepapers.RecentIFDPsareavailableontheWebatwww.federalreserve.gov/pubs/ifdp/.ThispapercanbedownloadedwithoutchargefromtheSocialScienceResearchNetworkelectroniclibraryatwww.ssrn.com. ExchangeRateDisconnectandtheTradeBalance∗ MartinBodensteinPabloCuba-Borda FederalReserveBoardFederalReserveBoard NilsGoernemannIgnacioPresno FederalReserveBoardFederalReserveBoard Currentversion:June26,2024 Abstract Weproposeamodelwithcostlyinternationalfinancialintermediationthatlinksex-changeratemovementstoshiftsinthedemandfordomesticallyproducedgoodsrelativetothedemandforimportedgoods(traderebalancing).Ourmodelisconsistentwithstyl-izedfactsofexchangeratedynamics,includingthoserelatedtothetradebalance,whichistypicallyoverlookedintheliteratureonexchangeratedetermination.Inaquantitativeassessment,traderebalancingexplainsnearly50percentofexchangeratefluctuationsoverthebusinesscycle,whereasexogenousdeviationsfromtheuncoveredinterestrateparity—theprimarysourceofexchangeratefluctuationsintheliterature—accountforjustabove20percent.Usingdataontradeflowsorthetradebalanceiskeytoproperlyidentifyingthedeterminantsoftheexchangerate.Thus,ourmodelovercomesthesharpdichotomybe-tweentherealexchangerateandthemacroeconomyembeddedinothermodelsofexchangeratedetermination. JEL:F31,F32,F41. Keywords:ExchangeRates,RiskSharing,FinancialIntermediation,TradeBalance. ∗FirstVersion:February15,2024.Contactinformation:FederalReserveBoard,20thStreetandConstitutionAvenueNW,WashingtonDC20551.Email:martin.r.bodenstein@frb.gov, pablo.a.cubaborda@frb.gov,nils.m.goernemann@frb.gov,ignacio.presno@frb.gov.WearegratefulforcommentsbyAnnaLipin´ska,JuanPabloNicolini,AndreaRaffo,RicardoReyes-Heroles,FelipeSaffie,StephanieSchmitt-Groh´e,Mart´ınUribe,MarkWright,TonyZhang,andseminarparticipantsatBancoCentraldeChile,PontificiaUniversidadCatolicadeChile,andFederalReserveBoard.TheviewsexpressedinthispaperaresolelytheresponsibilityoftheauthorsandshouldnotbeinterpretedasreflectingtheviewsoftheBoardofGovernorsoftheFederalReserveSystemoranypersonassociatedwiththeFederalReserveSystem. 1Introduction Therealexchangerateiscentraltointernationalmacroeconomics.Yet,theliteratureonexchangeratedeterminationreliesonmechanismsfeaturingastarkseparationbetweentheexchangerateandtheremainderofthemacroeconomytoresolvelong-standingpuzzlesbetweeneconomictheoryandthedata(Fama1984;BackusandSmith1993;ObstfeldandRogoff2000).1Weproposeasetupthatdoesnotimposesuchastarkseparation.Usingamodelwithcostlyinternationalfinancialintermedi-ationinthespiritofGabaixandMaggiori(2015),welinkexchangeratemovementstoshiftsinthedemandfordomesticallyproducedgoodsrelativetothedemandforimportedgoods(traderebalancing).Ourmodelisconsistentwithstylizedfactsofexchangeratedynamicsoverthebusinesscycle,includingthoserelatedtothetradebalance,whichistypicallyoverlookedintheliterature.Inaquantitativeassessment,traderebalancingexplainsnearly50percentofexchangeratefluctuations,whereasexogenousdeviationsfromtheuncoveredinterestrateparity—theprimarysourceofexchangeratefluctuationsintheliterature—accountforjustabove20percent. Bothtraderebalancingshocksandcostlyinternationalfinancialintermediationareneededtobringthemodelinlinewiththedata.Atraderebalancingshockraises,atgivenprices,thedemandfordomestically-producedgoodsrelativetothedemandforimportedgoods,causingbothatradebalanceimprovementandarealcurrencyappreciation.Themagnitudeoftheresponsesofthetradebalanceandtherealexchangeratedependcriticallyontheextentofconsumptionrisksharingacrosscountries.Highercostsoffinancialintermediationreduceinternationalbor-rowingandlendingforagiven-sizedrebalancingshockandrestrainthetradebalanceresponsewhilerequiringlargerrealexchangerateadjustmenttomaintaingoodsmar-ketequilibrium.Undermoderatefinancialintermediationcosts,themovementsoftherealexchangeraterelativetothetradebalanceinthemodelareconsistentwiththequalitativeandquantitativepatternsinthedata. 1Thethreemostprominentpuzzlesare(1)theexchangeratedisconnectpuzzle(ObstfeldandRogoff2000),i.e.,thefactthatexchangeratesareanorderofmagnitudemorevolatilethanaggregateconsumptionandoutput;(2)