Devalution, Output and Wages

Abstract

This paper analyses the relationship between the real exchange rate, real wages and aggregate output. We present a model in which changes in aggregate output and in the real exchange rate precede changes in real wages, and where output is expected to positively affect real wages while changes in the real exchange rate are expected to negatively affect real wages. The empirical analysis is carried out for the case of Brazil, a country which has recently undergone an exchange-rate-based stabilization plan and where the impact of exchange rate anchoring on the real sector seems to be relevant. Using monthly data for the period 1985 to 2001, Granger causality tests and Johansen's Maximum likelihood estimates confirmed the assumptions of our model by showing that real wages are positively affected by output and negatively impacted by the real exchange rate in the long run. [F31, F41, J39]