Exchange rate exposure of Latin American firms: Empirical evidence

© 2019 Elsevier B.V.We study the exchange rate exposure of 776 listed Latin American firms from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, during 2009-2016. Regressing stock returns with domestic exchange rate changes and stock market returns as explanatory and control variables, respectively, and correcting for Classical Linear Regression assumptions violations, leaving aside non-significant regressions, the narrowed sample includes 139 regressions. The results confirm that for all countries except Colombia, and for all economic sectors considered, average exchange rate coefficients are negative, highly statistically significant, and economically significant. Additional Panel Data Analysis tests confirm these findings. Published studies on Latin American firms¿ currency exposure have not used a sophisticated methodology nor applied it to as large a set of firms as has been done here. Our results suggest that Latin American firms are mostly domestic in their businesses, providing important guidance for economic development policies.

Exchange rate exposure of Latin American firms: Empirical evidence Academic Article in Scopus