The Effect of the Global Financial Crisis on the Asymmetric Relationship between Exchange Rate Volatility and Trade Flows

Recent literature has shifted to examining whether the relationship between exchange rate volatility and trade flows is symmetric or asymmetric. However, this literature does not provide consistent findings. We extend the existing literature by examining whether the asymmetric relationship between exchange rate volatility and trade flows changes as a result of the global financial crisis. For this purpose, we use a nonlinear ARDL model on both the pre and the post-crisis period data. The pre-crisis and post-crisis periods cover the data from January 1986 to August 2008 and September 2008 to January 2018 respectively. Results indicate that the relationship changes, as a result, a global financial crisis however, this relationship is country specific as well on the type of model (export or import) selected.