Parity Reversion in Real Exchange Rates: Fast, Slow, or Not at All?

This paper tests for purchasing power parity (PPP) using real effective exchange rate data for 90 developed and developing countries in the post-Bretton Woods period. Support for PPP is found, since the majority of countries experience finite deviations of real exchange rates from parity. The speed of parity reversion is found to be typically much faster for developed countries than for developing countries and to be considerably faster for countries with flexible nominal exchange rate regimes compared with countries having fixed nominal exchange rate regimes. Copyright 2006, International Monetary Fund