Export Dynamics and Invoicing Currency

Author: Kazunobu Hayakawa, Nuttawut LAKSANAPANYAKUL, Toshiyuki Matsuura, Taiyo Yoshimi
Date: 2024/3/3
No: DP2024-005
JEL Classification codes: F14, F31, F39
Language: English
[ Abstract / Highlights ]
This study explores the evolution of invoicing currency choice, focusing on inertia in invoicing currency and the role of export experience. We theorize that inertia in the producer’s currency pricing (PCP) weakens with lower forex risk management costs, whereas inertia in foreign currency pricing is more pronounced under similar conditions. For the export experience, exporters tend to adopt PCP when they start exporting if the costs are significant. Empirical analysis using firm-level export data in Thailand from 2007 to 2014 supports these predictions. Specifically, we show that the inertia in PCP diminishes with access to forward exchange contracts or when the importer’s currency has a higher forex turnover than the Thai baht. We also show that the tendency to adopt PCP in first exports diminishes under these conditions. Our findings imply that exporters initially prefer invoicing in their own currency, but this preference decreases as export experience accumulates or if there are financial tools or favorable currency turnover conditions.