Exchange rate and corporate investment: Heterogeneous effects via the global value chain networks

Abstract

This study analyzes how exchange rates affect corporate investment by scrutinizing firms' global value chain (GVC) networks. A salient feature of our analysis is that we adopt novel GVC datasets and methodologies to construct upstream- and downstream-specific exchange rates. We couple these GVC-integrated real exchange rates with global firm-level data and document that unfavorable exchange rate movements hinder operating performance and, therefore, corporate investment, especially among financially constrained firms. We use two large currency shocks in Brazil and Sweden to provide causal evidence. The results highlight nonnegligible frictions of how GVC-integrated real exchange rates affect corporate investment.