The Distributional Consequences of Large Devaluations

S-Tier
Journal: American Economic Review
Year: 2017
Volume: 107
Issue: 11
Pages: 3477-3509

Authors (2)

Score contribution per author:

4.022 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 4.0x S-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

We study the impact of large exchange rate devaluations on the cost of living at different points on the income distribution. Poor households spend relatively more on tradeable product categories and consume lower-priced varieties within categories. Changes in the relative price of tradeables and of lower-priced varieties affect the cost of living of low-income relative to high-income households. We quantify these effects following the 1994 Mexican devaluation and show that they can have large distributional consequences. Two years post-devaluation, the cost of living for the bottom income decile rose 1.48 to 1.62 times more than for the top income decile.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:aea:aecrev:v:107:y:2017:i:11:p:3477-3509
Journal Field
General
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-25