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The Exchange Rate Exposure Puzzle

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  • Bartram, Söhnke M.
  • Bodnar, Gordon

Abstract

Based on basic financial models and reports in the business press, exchange rate movements are generally believed to affect the value of nonfinancial firms. In contrast, the empirical research on nonfinancial firms typically produces fewer significant exposures estimates than researchers ex-pect, independent of the sample studied and the methodology used, giving rise to a situation known as “the exposure puzzle”. This paper provides a survey of the existing research on the exposure phenomenon for nonfinancial firms. We suggest that the exposure puzzle may not be a problem of empirical methodology or sample selection as previous research has suggested, but is simply the result of the endogeneity of operative and financial hedging at the firm level. Given that empirical tests estimate exchange exposures net of corporate hedging, both, firms with low gross exposure that do not need to hedge, as well as firms with large gross exposures that employ one or several forms of hedging, may exhibit only weak exchange rate exposures net of hedging. Consequently, empirical tests yield only small percentages of firms with significant stock price exposures in almost any sample.

Suggested Citation

  • Bartram, Söhnke M. & Bodnar, Gordon, 2005. "The Exchange Rate Exposure Puzzle," MPRA Paper 6482, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:6482
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Aysun, Uluc & Guldi, Melanie, 2011. "Exchange rate exposure: A nonparametric approach," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 12(4), pages 321-337.
    3. Ledenyov, Dimitri O. & Ledenyov, Viktor O., 2015. "Wave function method to forecast foreign currencies exchange rates at ultra high frequency electronic trading in foreign currencies exchange markets," MPRA Paper 67470, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Söhnke M. Bartram & Natasha Burns & Jean Helwege, 2013. "Foreign Currency Exposure and Hedging: Evidence from Foreign Acquisitions," Quarterly Journal of Finance (QJF), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 3(02), pages 1-20.
    5. Fabio Parlapiano & Vitali Alexeev & Mardi Dungey, 2017. "Exchange rate risk exposure and the value of European firms," The European Journal of Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(2), pages 111-129, January.
    6. Bartram, Sohnke M., 2007. "Corporate cash flow and stock price exposures to foreign exchange rate risk," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 13(5), pages 981-994, December.
    7. Bartram, Söhnke M. & Bodnar, Gordon M., 2012. "Crossing the lines: The conditional relation between exchange rate exposure and stock returns in emerging and developed markets," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 766-792.
    8. Asep Risman & Ubud Salim & Sumiati Sumiati & Nur Khusniyah Indrawati, 2017. "Commodity Prices, Exchange Rates and Investment on Firm's Value Mediated by Business Risk: A Case from Indonesian Stock Exchange," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(3A), pages 511-524.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Exposure; risk management; derivatives; corporate finance; exchange rates;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F4 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance
    • F3 - International Economics - - International Finance
    • G3 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance

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