Aid for Trade flows and Real Exchange Rate Volatility in Recipient-Countries

Abstract

This paper aims to contribute to the literature on the determinants of real exchange rate volatility by investigating the effect of Aid for Trade (AfT) flows on real exchange rate volatility in recipient-countries. The empirical findings show that over the full sample, AfT flows influence negatively the volatility of real exchange rate, with a lower reducing effect on Least developed countries (LDCs) compared to NonLDCs. The channels through which this effect materializes include export product concentration, institutional and governance quality, foreign direct investment inflows and terms of trade volatility. These results show that AfT flows clearly matter for real exchange rate volatility.