Mean Reversion of Real Exchange Rates in High-Inflation Countries

We test for mean reversion in real exchange rates using data from five countries, four of which have experienced episodes of high inflation. Using monthly data for Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Israel, we find that a stochastic unit root model is typically appropriate (Brazil is the exception). Kalman filter estimates of the stochastic unit roots show sharp deviations from unity associated with high inflation episodes. This suggests that stochastic unit root models are a more appropriate way to model mean reversion in real exchange rates for high inflation countries than models with fixed rates of mean reversion.