Mirfarhad Sadigh Mohammadi; Ahmad Sarlak; Seyyed Abbas Najafizadeh; Mohammad Hassanzadeh
Abstract
Exchange rate as an interface between domestic and foreign economies, is one of the most important macroeconomic variables. Thus, exchange rate shocks can affect the income, consumption expenditure, and eventually, welfare of households via affecting export and import prices in combination with domestic ...
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Exchange rate as an interface between domestic and foreign economies, is one of the most important macroeconomic variables. Thus, exchange rate shocks can affect the income, consumption expenditure, and eventually, welfare of households via affecting export and import prices in combination with domestic prices. The objective of this paper is to investigate the effect of exchange rate shocks on the welfare of households in Iran using equivalent variation (EV) and compensating variation (CV) criteria. Due to the strengths of computable general equilibrium (CGE) models compared to single-equation models, we have calibrated a standard CGE model based on social accounting matrix (SAM) for the year 2011, and have compared changes in the welfare of urban and rural households via simulation of the exchange rate increase. The results show that exchange rate increase lowers the welfare of urban and rural households, and this effect is stronger for urban households than rural households. Stronger exchange rate shocks lead to greater welfare losses. Therefore, differences in welfare loss between urban and rural households must be taken into account in plans and protective measures aimed to mitigate the negative impacts of exchange rate shocks.
