International Evidence On Purchasing Power Parity Theory: A Partial Equilibrium Empirical Investigation

Abstract

This paper tests the Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) theory in a partial equilibrium framework. Statistical tests are employed to test the PPP theory for floating exchange rates of the Australian and Canadian dollars, Swiss frank and the British pound. The study period spans the fourth quarter of 1974 through the fourth quarter of 2006. The Johansen and Juselieus test of cointegration supports a long-run relationship between inflation and exchange rate predicted by the PPP theory only for the bilateral exchange rates of the pound and the Australian dollar. This evidence suggests that the PPP in its strict theoretical sense in the case of the bilateral exchange rate of the US dollar and Australian dollar is rejected but not for the case of the exchange rate of the pound and US dollar. However, the Granger causality test further supports the findings of the cointegration test. It shows that in the short-run, the money supply and GDP ratios Granger cause the movements of this exchange rate.