Abstract

The goal of this paper is to empirically assess the impact of exchange rate shocks on prices and quantities of Russian exports and imports. The relevance of the work is dictated by the sanctions imposed on Russia in 2022, which can complicate international payments in the dominant currencies in international trade, and by subsequent economic policy measures aimed at reducing the role of the dollar and the euro in Russian foreign trade. Modern studies consider the currency of the contract as one of the most important factors influencing the magnitude of the exchange rate pass-through effect on prices and quantities of exports and imports. The main assumption of such models – short-term price rigidity in terms of contract currency – matches the behavior of real data. These models also predict the dependence of the pass-through effect on the firm's share of the product-country market. In this paper, based on econometric analysis of detailed data from customs statistics of the Russian Federation, it is shown that the key to the dynamics of exports and imports is not bilateral exporter-importer rates, but exporter and importer rates to the dominant currencies in world trade (US dollar and euro), and prices are rigid in the contract currency. Because of the asymmetry in the response between importer currency shocks and exporter currency shocks to the contract currency, there is a statistically and economically significant effect of a uniform appreciation of the dominant currency. This means that Russia's foreign trade prices and quantities respond to the dynamics of the contract currency even if neither the exporter nor the importer is a country issuing the contract currency. This response persists in the long run, and therefore cannot be explained solely by short-term price rigidity. The pass-through effect depends on the value of exports and imports, which is consistent with the predictions of the theory. The main conclusion of the paper is that diversification of the currency structure of foreign trade contract payments will contribute to the sustainability of Russian foreign trade, but the question of the costs of such a transition remains beyond the scope of this study.

Abstract

The statistics on foreign direct investment (FDI) for 2017 published in early April by the Central Bank of Russia shows a change in the dynamics of an increase in FDI inflows to the Russian Federation that was outlined in 2016 and in the first three quarters of 2017. The slowdown in capital inflows in 4Q 2017 reflected the deteriorating sentiment of foreign investors associated with negative expectations of new US sanctions, as well as a drop in demand for Russian government bonds.

Positive investor sentiment was reflected by the positive dynamics of FDI flows in the first three quarters of 2017, when the level of incoming FDI amounted to USD 24.8 billion, which is more than 2 times compared to the same period in 2016. The increase in inflows over this period is due to transactions such as the sale of a 10% stake in the Russian petrochemical holding Sibur to the Chinese Silk Road Fund, the launch of the construction of a Mercedes-Benz automobile plant by the German company Daimler in the Esipovo industrial park, which became the first largest project after the introduction of anti-Russian sanctions by the Western company in Russia.

Existing assessments of the impact of sanctions on key macroeconomic indicators provide a rough understanding of their significance for foreign investors. Under the new conditions, foreign investors developed their own approaches to respond to the sanctions regime, depending on their sectoral specialization and the degree of orientation towards the Russian and/or foreign markets. Nevertheless, according to the results of 2017, the volume of foreign direct investment (FDI) attracted to Russia from the EU countries exceeded USD 14 billion (which is more than 6 times the level of 2016). Consequently, a high potential for investment cooperation remains between Russia and the EU countries, despite the sanctions regime.

Relevance of the study: portfolio and foreign direct investment are an important source of capital that complements domestic private investment and is often associated with creating new jobs, stimulating technological exchange and encouraging overall economic growth in host countries. Important factors in FDI inflows are the level of the exchange rate and its volatility. The need for an empirical analysis of the impact of the exchange rate on FDI inflows to Russia is caused by the currency crisis of 2014-2015, when the Russian ruble devalued due to the fall in world oil prices, as well as a number of foreign policy events.

The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of the level of the exchange rate and its trend on the inflow of direct and portfolio foreign investment in the Russian Federation. In accordance with the goal, the following tasks will be solved:

– Review of the theoretical and empirical literature on the role of the exchange rate in the inflow of foreign investment;
– Analysis of foreign direct investment flows in Russia and in the world;
– Building models that take into account the impact of the exchange rate of the national currency of Russia on the inflow of foreign direct investment in the sectors of the Russian economy;
– Evaluation of econometric models to study the influence of the exchange rate on the inflow of foreign direct investment to the countries of the world in order to test the hypotheses put forward in the work;
– Interpretation of the results and development of recommendations for the

Russian foreign economic policy, taking into account the results of the study.
The initial data of the work were statistical databases, both international and Russian, in particular, open statistical data provided by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, the Federal State Statistics Service, the Eurasian Economic Commission, regulatory and program documents regulating the activities of the regions of the Russian Federation with a special (special legal) regime for the implementation of entrepreneurial and other activities, as well as cases of the largest and most successful investment projects implemented on the territory of individual constituent entities of the Russian Federation.