Book Description
The existing literature on dual exchange rate regimes assumes that the separation between the two foreign exchange markets is perfect. In this paper, by contrast, a divergence between the two exchange rates induces a flow of arbitrage activity, the magnitude of which depends on both the costs of evading exchange controls and the size of the exchange rate differential. These arbitrage flows lead to a gradual convergence of the two exchange rates. In the long run, therefore, a dual exchange rate regime with a fixed commercial rate imposes the same constraints as a fixed unified exchange rate.