Purchasing Power Parity and the Canadian Float in the 1950s

Abstract

In this paper, the authors present evidence that neither large differences in inflation nor long time periods are necessary for a finding favorable to purchasing power parity. Evidence from cointegrating regressions and tests of the real exchange rate indicate that purchasing power parity held as a long-run constraint between the United States and Canada for the period 1950:10 to 1961:5. The authors also find that government intervention can distort purchasing power parity over a finite period. Once the data were extended beyond the period of the free float, the evidence is no longer favorable to purchasing power parity. Copyright 1991 by MIT Press.