01921cas a2200253 a 4500 AALejournalIMF001433 230101c9999 xx r poo 0 0eng d 5.00 USD 9781451845693 1018-5941 BD-DhAAL BD-DhAAL MacDonald, Ronald. PPP and the Balassa Samuelson Effect : The Role of the Distribution Sector / Ronald MacDonald, Luca Ricci. Washington, D.C. : International Monetary Fund, 2001. 1 online resource (40 pages) IMF Working Papers <strong>Off-Campus Access:</strong> No User ID or Password Required <strong>On-Campus Access:</strong> No User ID or Password Required Electronic access restricted to authorized BRAC University faculty, staff and students This paper investigates the impact of the distribution sector on the real exchange rate, controlling for the Balassa-Samuelson effect, as well as other macro variables. Long-run coefficients are estimated using a panel dynamic OLS estimator. The main result is that an increase in the productivity and competitiveness of the distribution sector with respect to foreign countries leads to an appreciation of the real exchange rate, similarly to what a relative increase in the domestic productivity of tradables does. This contrasts with the result that one would expect by considering the distribution sector as belonging to the non-tradable sector. One explanation may lie in the use of the services from the distribution sector in the tradable sector. Our results also contribute to explaining the so-called PPP puzzle. Mode of access: Internet Ricci, Luca. IMF Working Papers; Working Paper ; No. 2001/038 Full text available on IMF http://elibrary.imf.org/view/journals/001/2001/038/001.2001.issue-038-en.xml IMF e-Library