2016 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
A comparative study of the foreign uses of the Chinese renminbi as an international currency(国際共同研究強化)
Project/Area Number |
16KK0076
|
Research Institution | National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies |
Principal Investigator |
CHEY Hyoung・kyu 政策研究大学院大学, 政策研究科, 准教授 (20626999)
|
Project Period (FY) |
2016 – 2017
|
Keywords | currency / international currency / renminbi / yuan |
Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
This research project began on February 3, 2017. During the two months of February and March 2017, I mainly conducted analysis of the use of the Chinese renminbi (RMB) in the case of Japan, which is one of the four case countries of the comparative study this research project plans to carry out. I examined primary materials such as Japanese government documents, as well secondary ones including academic papers and newspaper and magazine articles. I also conducted intensive interviews with Japanese government officials, academics and financial institutions. My tentative findings are that the use of the RMB in the Japanese markets is still significantly limited and that recently-intensified political tensions between Japan and China have hindered Japan from developing infrastructures in favor of RMB use in the country.
I also initiated preliminary research on the case of the United Kingdom. My preliminary findings in this regard is that the UK is at the forefront in the global race to build offshore RMB financial centers and that there have been strong pressures from financial institutions in the country to develop London as an offshore RMB financial center.
|
Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
2: Research has progressed on the whole more than it was originally planned.
Reason
My research progressed quite smoothly. I initially planned to carry out preliminary analysis of the Japanese case to a large extent and of the UK case to some extent before I begin from April 2017 my research in the East Asian Studies Center at the University of Southern California, which is my host university for this Promotion of Joint International Research project. Largely as planned, and as I explained in a previous section, during two months of February and March 2017 I was able to make a considerable progress in my analysis of the Japanese case and also to conduct preliminary research on the UK case.
|
Strategy for Future Research Activity |
During FY2017 I plan to work largely on the following two tasks: conducting in-depth research on the US case, and completing the comparative analysis of the four case countries. The comparative study will combine two distinct levels of analysis: at the firm level and at the state level. At the firm level, I will compare the demand for greater use of the RMB by private actors across the four case countries, and the extents of their actual uses of the currency in the markets, ultimately addressing the question of which factors affect their preferences regarding RMB use. Both financial institutions and non-financial corporations will be examined. In the state-level analysis, meanwhile, I will analyze the government policy stances concerning RMB internationalization in the case countries, including the resulting levels of establishment of infrastructures supporting RMB use. Overall, the comparative study will address the salient question of who the first foreign users of the RMB as an international currency are, ultimately analyzing the political economic dynamics of the rise of the RMB as a new international currency.
I plan to submit my research findings as a paper to an internationally-renowned International Political Economy journal such as Review of International Political Economy or New Political Economy for publication, as well as presenting it in academic conferences and seminars.
|