In partial equilibrium, a reduction in import barriers may be thought to lead to an increase in imports and a reduction in trade surplus. However, the general equilibrium effect can go in the opposite direction. We study how trade reforms affect current accounts by embedding a modified...

Permanent shocks such as trade liberalizations are hard to discuss in a standard dynamic Hechscher-Ohlin model due to potential interest rate over-determination. We make three contributions. First, we introduce an endogenous discount factor which solves the problem of interest rate...

One-sector inter-temporal models of the current account predict that a transitory shock to the terms of trade will lead to improvement in trade balance, while a persistent (or permanent) one could result in trade balance deterioration. This paper reexamines this issue in a two-sector small open...