D. Assane et A. Konan, EXCHANGE-RATE VARIABILITY AND IMPORTS IN WAMU COUNTRIES - IS THIS RELATIONSHIP RELEVANT, World development, 22(5), 1994, pp. 795-801
In a recent contribution to this journal, Medhora (1990) showed that,
for 1976-82, exchange rate variability has had little impact on the We
st African Monetary Union's (WAMU) imports. We argue that Medhora's fi
ndings are largely due to WAMU's trade structure. Indeed, by treating
WAMU's trading environment as a likely buffer, sufficient to dampen po
ssible exchange rate risk on trading opportunities, we show that excha
nge rate variability will not matter in WAMU countries' imports decisi
ons.