FX Hedging, Currency Choice, and Dollar Dominance

When exporters price their goods in a foreign currency, they are exposed to exchange-rate risk. However, they can hedge this risk by underwriting a foreign exchange (FX) forward contract, which means selling forward the currency in which they price their goods. In this paper, we study how the cost of FX hedging influences the currency choice of French exporters. Our identification strategy exploits an exogenous increase in the trading costs of FX forward contracts, that was triggered by a spike in the Greek default risk. First, we find that higher FX trading costs lower the probability of pricing in dollars and in local (i.e., buyer’s) currency for hedging firms. Second, we show that hedging firms price more their goods in dollars than in local currency. Third, we document that FX hedging affects the transmission of exchange-rate shocks to prices and find that FX hedging is associated with lower levels of exchange-rate pass-through. We conclude that FX hedging contributes to dollar dominance and to the exchange-rate disconnect puzzle.