Exchange rate volatility and exports: evidence from the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area

This paper examines the impact of exchange rate volatility on the bilateral exports within the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (ACFTA) by using a generalized gravity model. A panel data set of 20 bilateral observations for the period from 1982: Q1 to 2005: Q1 is estimated using fixed-effect and random effect methods. Panel unit-roots and panel cointegration tests confirm the long-run relationship among the variables. The empirical results suggest that bilateral real exchange rate volatility has a statistically significant negative impact on the bilateral exports of the major ACFTA countries. But the magnitude of the impact appears to be fairly small.