Devaluation (levels vs. rates) and balance of payments in a cash-in-advance economy

This paper investigates the consequences of the currency devaluation, both in levels and rates, on the balance of payments in a cash-in-advance economy with finite horizons, endogenous capital accumulation and international capital immobility. In this context, a once and for all currency devaluation induces a balance of payments surplus, whereas a sustained increase in the rate of devaluation produces, in principle, an ambiguous effect on the balance of payments. If however non-restrictive assumptions on some structural parameters are made, an increase in the devaluation rate leads to a balance of payments surplus, the exact opposite of Calvo's result [J. Int. Econ. 11 (2) (1981) 165]. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.