Understanding Real Exchange Rate Movements with Trade in Intermediate Products

We suggest it may be quot;too easyquot; to attribute real exchange rate movements to law of one price deviations. We show that it is immaterial whether one uses seemingly traded goods, nontraded goods, or even just a single, unimportant consumer good, say beer. The ease of attributing the variation to any such deviations is explained using a model with intermediate goods trade. In the model, the stage of production determines the traded/nontraded distinction. We find empirical substantiation for the model: law of one price deviations lose explanatory power; and - defined appropriately in terms of intermediate goods - relative prices matter