Arbeitspapier

Financial statecraft and transaction costs: The case of renminbi internationalization

The scholarly debate on currency internationalization focuses on country characteristics and policies as the main determinants in currency competition. However, this literature has neglected the fact that, given the intertwined nature of the international monetary system, other countries' actions and the functioning logic of international finance can also impact a currency's international status. This article shows that RMB usage has been boosted not only by Chinese statecraft but also by economic actors' recent difficulties in using the dollar. The American financial sanctions against Chinese trade partners, the cyclical instability of international finance, as well as peripheral countries' low inflows of dollars have encouraged firms and banks to use the renminbi as an alternative to the dollar. In addition to contributing to a broader understanding of the drivers of currency internationalization, this article proposes a model that explains the mechanisms that push firms and banks away from the incumbent international currency. I posit that changes in domestic and international conditions influence currency transaction costs, thereby propelling economic actors to increase their use of currencies with relatively lower transaction costs. Interviews with Chinese senior officials from the PBOC and the Ministry of Commerce, manufacturing companies, and bank staff are the main primary sources for this article. I triangulate this information with news reports and speeches both in Chinese and English.

Sprache
Englisch

Erschienen in
Series: Discussion Paper ; No. 2021/9

Klassifikation
Wirtschaft
Thema
international monetary system
renminbi internationalization
financial statecraft
dollar
currency competition

Ereignis
Geistige Schöpfung
(wer)
Zucker Marques, Marina
Ereignis
Veröffentlichung
(wer)
Freie Universität Berlin, School of Business & Economics
(wo)
Berlin
(wann)
2021

Handle
URN
urn:nbn:de:kobv:188-refubium-30516-1
Letzte Aktualisierung
10.03.2023, 13:42 MEZ

Datenpartner

Dieses Objekt wird bereitgestellt von:
ZBW - Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften - Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft. Bei Fragen zum Objekt wenden Sie sich bitte an den Datenpartner.

Objekttyp

  • Arbeitspapier

Beteiligte

  • Zucker Marques, Marina
  • Freie Universität Berlin, School of Business & Economics

Entstanden

  • 2021

Ähnliche Objekte (12)