Score contribution per author:
α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count
Because durable goods have the quality of an asset, risk-averse consumers want to pay a lower price for durable than for nondurable goods so that they are compensated for the risk of price changes; they require risk premium. Since the exchange rate is a strong source of uncertainty in import prices, exchange rate volatility has a negative effect on the demand for imported durables. In an imperfectly competitive market, the volatility of the exchange rate is predicted to reduce the relative price of imported durables. The prediction is supported by an empirical investigation of US imports. Copyright 1999 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.