Skip to main content
Log in

Do real interest rates converge across Latin american countries?

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Portuguese Economic Journal Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In this study, we apply the Sequential Panel Selection Method (SPSM), proposed by Chortareas and Kapetanios (Journal of Banking and Finance 33:390–404, 2009), to investigate and assess the non-stationary properties of the real interest rate parity (RIRP) for fourteen Latin American countries. Utilizing the SPSM, we can classify the entire panel into a group of stationary series and a group of non-stationary series. We clearly identify how many and which series in the panel are stationary processes and provide robust evidence that clearly indicate RIRP holds true for ten countries. Our findings note that these countries’ real interest rate convergence is a mean reversion toward RIRP equilibrium values in a non-linear way. Our results have important policy implications for these Latin American countries under study.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Enders and Lee (2012) suggested that the frequencies in Equation (8) should be obtained by minimizing the sum of the squared residuals. However, their Monte Carlo experiments suggest that no more than one or two frequencies should be used because of the loss of power associated with a larger number of frequencies.

  2. The effective interest rate is calculated as if compounded annually. The effective rate is calculated in the following way, where r is the effective annual rate, i the nominal rate, and n the number of compounding periods per year: r = (1+i/n)n - 1

References

  • Becker R, Enders W, Lee J (2004) A general test for time dependence in parameters. J Appl Econometrics 19:899–906

  • Becker R, Enders W, Lee J (2006) A stationairy test in the presence of an unknown number of smooth breaks. J Time Ser Anal 27(3):381–409

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Breuer JB, McNown R, Wallace MS (2001) Misleading inferences from panel unit-root tests with an illustration from purchasing power parity. Rev Int Econ 9:482–493

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Calvo GA, Leonardo L, Carmen R (1993) Capital inflows to Latin america: the role of external factors. IMF Staff Pap 40:108–151

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Calvo GA, Leonardo L, Carmen R (1996) Capital flows to Latin America: Is there evidence of contagion effects? In: Calvo GA, Goldstein GM, Hochreiter E (eds) Private capital flows to emerging markets. Institute for International Economics, Washington

    Google Scholar 

  • Chortareas G, Kapetanios G (2009) Getting PPP right: identifying mean-reverting real exchange rates in panels. J Bank and Finance 33:390–404

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Christopoulos DK, León-Ledesma MA (2010) Revisiting the real wages- unemployment relationship. New results from non-linear models. Bull Econ Res 62:79–96

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cuestas JC, Harrison B (2010) Further evidence on the real interest rate parity hypothesis in central and eastern european countries: unit roots and nonlinearities. Emerg Mark Finance and Trade 46(6):22–39

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dickey DA, Fuller WA (1981) Likelihood ratio statistics for autoregressive time series with a unit root. Econometrica 49:1057–1072

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Divino JA, Teles VK, Andrade JPD (2009) On the purchasing power parity for Latin-american countries. J Appl Econ 12(1):33–54

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Enders W, Lee J (2012) A unit root test using a fourier series to approximate smooth breaks. Oxf Bull Econ Stat 74:574–599

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferreira AL, León-Ledesma MA (2007) Does the real interest parity hypothesis hold? evidence for developed and emerging markets. J Int Money Financ 26:364–382

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frankel JA (1991) Quantifying international capital mobility, in National Saving and Economic Performance (Eds) D Bernheim, JB Shoven, University of Chicago: 227–260.

  • Gallant R (1981) On the basis in flexible functional form and an essentially unbiased form: the flexible fourier form. J Econ 15:211–353

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grubel HG (1968) Internationally diversified portfolios: welfare gains and capital flows. Am Econ Rev 58:1299–1314

    Google Scholar 

  • Im KS, Pesaran MH, Shin Y (2003) Testing for unit roots in heterogeneous panels. J Econ 115:53–74

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kapetanios G, Shin Y, Snell A (2003) Testing for a unit root in the nonlinear STAR framework. J Econ 112:359–379

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levin A, Lin CF, Chu CS (2002) Unit root in panel data: asymptotic and finite-sample properties. J Econ 108:1–24

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leybourne S, Newbold P, Vougas D (1998) Unit roots and smooth transitions. J Time Ser Anal 19:83–97

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maddala G, Kim IM (1999) Unit roots, cointegration and structural change. Cambridge University Press, UK

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Mark NC (1985) Some evidence on the international equality of real interest rates. J Int Money Financ 4:189–208

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mark NC, Moh YK (2005) The real exchange rate and real interest differentials: the role of nonlinearities. Int J Finance and Econ 10:323–335

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Merlevede B, Plasmans J, Aarle BV (2003) A small macroeconomic model of the EU accession countries. Open Econ Rev 14:221–250

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’connell PGJ (1998) The overvaluation of purchasing power parity. J Int Econ 44:1–20

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Obstfeld M, Rogoff K (1995) Exchange rate dynamics redux. J Polit Econ 103:624–660

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • OECD (1994) Assessing Investment Opportunities in Economies in Transitions. OECD, Paris

    Google Scholar 

  • Pascalau R (2010) Unit root tests with smooth breaks: an application to the nelson-plosser data set. Appl Econ Lett 17:565–570

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peel DA, Venetis IA (2005) Smooth transition models and arbitrage consistency. Economica 72:413–430

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perron P (1989) The great crash, the oil price shock and the unit root hypothesis. Econometrica 57:1361–1401

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perron P (1997) Further evidence on breaking trend functions in macroeconomic variables. J Econ 80(2):355–385

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phillips PCB, Perron P (1988) Testing for a unit root in time series regression. Biometrika 75:335–346

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Su CW, Chang HL, Liu L (2012) Real interest rate parity with flexible fourier stationary test for central and eastern european countries. Econ Model 29:2719–2723

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Su CW, Jiang X, Chang HL (2014) Real interest rate parity for central and eastern european countries: a new unit root test with two structural breaks. Ekonomicky Casopis 62(1):3–18

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor MP (2003) Purchasing power parity. Rev Int Econ 11:436–452

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor MP, Sarno L (1998) The behavior of real exchange rates during the post-bretton woods period. J Int Econ 46(2):281–312

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor MP, Sarno L (2004) International real interest rate differentials, purchasing power parity and the behaviour of real exchange rates: the resolution of a conundrum. Int J Finance and Econ 9:15–23

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor AM, Taylor MP (2004) The purchasing power parity debate. J Econ Perspect 18:135–158

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ucar N, Omay T (2009) Testing for unit root in nonlinear heterogeneous panels. Econ Lett 104:5–8

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Chi-Wei Su.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

ESM 1

(PDF 1940 kb)

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Zhang, W.L., Chang, HL. & Su, CW. Do real interest rates converge across Latin american countries?. Port Econ J 13, 117–130 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10258-014-0101-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10258-014-0101-y

Keywords

JEL Classification

Navigation