This paper investigates the response of the exchange rate and the trade bal
ance to monetary policy innovations for the US economy during the period 19
73:01-1993:12. The empirical findings indicate that contractionary monetary
policy shocks lead to transitory appreciations of the real and the nominal
exchange rate. Exchange rate appreciations that are caused by a temporary
contractionary shock to monetary policy are correlated with a short-lived i
mprovement in the trade balance which is then followed by a deterioration,
giving support to the J-curve hypothesis. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. Al
l rights reserved.