Using detailed firm-level transactions data for UK imports, we find that invoicing in a vehicle currency is pervasive, with more than half of the transactions in our sample invoiced in neither sterling nor the exporter’s currency. We then study the relationship between invoicing currencies and the response of import unit values to exchange rate changes. We find that for transactions invoiced in a vehicle currency, import unit values are much more sensitive to changes in the vehicle currency than in the bilateral exchange rate. Pass-through therefore substantially increases once we account for vehicle currencies. This result helps to explain why UK inflation turned out higher than expected when sterling depreciated during the Great Recession and after the Brexit referendum. Finally, within a conceptual framework, we show why bilateral exchange rates are not suitable for capturing exchange rate pass-through under vehicle currency pricing. Overall, our results help to clarify why the literature often finds a disconnect between exchange rates and prices when vehicle currencies are not accounted for.

中文翻译：

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车辆货币定价和汇率传递

使用英国进口的详细公司级交易数据，我们发现以车辆货币开具发票很普遍，在我们的样本中，超过一半的交易既不是以英镑也不是出口商的货币开具发票。然后，我们研究了计价货币与进口单位价值对汇率变化的反应之间的关系。我们发现，对于以车辆货币开具发票的交易，进口单位价值对车辆货币的变化比对双边汇率的变化更为敏感。因此，一旦我们考虑到车辆货币，通过率就会大幅增加。这一结果有助于解释为什么在大萧条期间和英国脱欧公投后英镑贬值时，英国的通胀率高于预期。最后，在一个概念框架内，我们展示了为什么双边汇率不适合在车辆货币定价下捕捉汇率传递。总体而言，我们的研究结果有助于澄清为什么在不考虑车辆货币时，文献经常发现汇率和价格之间存在脱节。