Controls on Capital Inflows: Do they Work?∗

This paper analyzes the effectiveness of controls on capital inflows. In particular, we analyze in great detail the Chilean experience with the use of the unremunerated reserve requirement. We examine the effects of the controls applied in Chile in 1991–98 on interest rates, real exchange rate, and the volume and composition of capital inflows. The effects are elusive and it is difficult to pin down long-run effects. Although after the unremunerated reserve requirement was introduced there was an increase in the interest rate differential, the econometric evidence does not show it has a significant long-run effect. Also we detect very small effects on the real exchange rate. However, the more persistent and significant effect is on the composition of capital inflows, tilting composition toward longer maturity. JEL Classification Nos.: F21, F30, F32, F41