Justice

• Abstract
  We analyze, for the first time, how firms choose the currency in which they price transactions
  in international trade of services and investigate, using direct evidence, whether the US dollar
  (USD) plays a dominant role in services trade.
• JEL: F14, F31, F41
  Keywords: dominant currency paradigm, international trade, services.
• Related research has
  shown that the US dollar (USD) exchange rate is a major source of swings in
  global trade in goods?a ?dominant currency pricing? (DCP) phenomenon?since
  most goods traded internationally are invoiced and sticky in USD.
• Yet it is also key to look at dominant currency pricing in international trade
  in services for several reasons.
• First, global trade in services is big?accounting for
  about a quarter of global gross trade flows and for around 40% in terms of valueadded trade.
• Third, and relatedly, the
  future of globalisation might be in trade in intermediate services?as progress with
  digitech lowers technological barriers to such trade across borders.
• But perhaps the main reason is that trade in services is conceptually different
  from trade in goods.
• Our paper is the first, to our best knowledge, that analyzes how firms choose
  the currency in which they price transactions in international trade of services and
  that examines whether dominant currency pricing differs between trade in goods
  and services using direct evidence? hitherto unavailable?on patterns of currency
  choices in international transactions in services compared to goods.
• Work on dominant currency pricing has
  almost exclusively focused on trade in goods.
• One reason is that data on patterns
  in invoicing currency for trade in services are ?virtually nonexistent? (Adler et al.
• Yet it is important to look at dominant currency pricing in international trade
  in services for several reasons.
• Using the exporter?s (or producer) currency in exports is known in the literature as producer
  currency pricing (PCP), while using the importer?s currency is known as local currency pricing (LCP)
  and using a third currency is known as vehicle currency pricing (VCP).
• Our paper is the first, to our best knowledge, that analyzes how firms choose the
  currency in which they price transactions in international trade of services and that
  examines whether dominant currency pricing differs between international trade in
  goods and services using direct evidence ? hitherto unavailable ? on patterns of
  currency choices in international transactions in services compared to goods.
• First,
  we rule out compositional effects, that is that differences in the use of currencies
  reflect differences in trade partners in services vs. goods trade.
• Both in extra-EU and intra-EU trade, the EUR is the
  most widely used currency, be it on the export or import side.
• Based
  on the framework, we stress which factors should determine currency choices in
  international trade, and to what extent one should expect differences between
  services trade and goods trade.
• Second, it can price in the importer?s currency
  (local currency pricing, LCP).4 Third, it can use a third currency, say currency
  v (vehicle currency pricing, VCP).
• That is,
  the currency choice problem is equivalent to determining the currency in which the
  desired price is least volatile.
• (2022)
  provide systematic empirical evidence ? firm size and exposure to foreign currencies
  in imported inputs ? should also shape currency choices in services trade.
• Dominant currency pricing in USD ? services vs. goods trade
  Having established that currency choice in international trade of services is an
  active firm-level decision as well as the determinants of this decision, we now

  8.

• Services and goods exports: prevalence of different pricing strategies (percent)
  Notes: The table shows the shares (in value terms) of different pricing strategies: producer currency
  pricing (PCP), local currency pricing (LCP) and vehicle currency pricing (VCP).
• To make comparisons with goods trade, we rely on Eurostat?s
  macro data on international trade in goods by invoivcing currency.
• If intra-EU trade is more important in services than
  in goods trade, this could hence be an explanation for the lower prevalence of the
  USD in services trade.
• We showed
  that while the USD is also extensively used as a vehicle currency in services trade, its
  prevalence is systematically lower than in goods trade.
• Hence for all travel services exports
  the invoicing currency is the EUR; for travel imports it is the currency of the
  destination of travel (i.e.
• Also for these

  ECB Working Paper Series No 2932

  33

  services it seems plausible that trade does not take place vis-?-vis all counterparts
  in each currency.

• Figure B.2: Share of international trade in services in global GDP broken down by type (%)
  Notes: Authors? calculations using World Bank and World Trade Organization data.
• An earlier version of this paper circulated under the title ?Currency choices and the role of the
  U.S. dollar in international services trade?.

• MEPs endorsed the deal with 15 votes in favour, 12 against, and no abstentions.
• The Body will develop, update, and interpret common minimum standards for ethical conduct, and publish reports on how these standards have been reflected in each signatory’s internal rules.
• The institutions participating in the Body will be represented by one senior member and the position of Chair of the Body will rotate every year between the institutions.
• This is all about putting citizens' interests first and making sure EU institutions stick to the highest ethical standards.

• The review comes after Dave Yost, the state’s attorney general, advised administrators in a call that using race as a factor to award funds may be unconstitutional.
• The day after the Supreme Court’s decision, he had signaled that schools should clamp down on race-conscious programs.
• He warned that “disguised” race-conscious admissions policies are still race-conscious admissions policies.

Targeting racial criteria

• Officials at the universities of Kentucky and Missouri eliminated consideration of race in scholarships and grants.
• This raises a question that goes beyond Ohio: Are scholarships that use race as part of their criteria a thing of the past?
• To figure that out, administrators may have to go back to the source: the 2023 Supreme Court decision.

Diversity and the ‘strict scrutiny’ test

• In 2003 and again in 2016, the court ruled that a diverse student body is a compelling interest.
• But in 2023, Harvard and UNC weren’t able to pass the strict scrutiny test.
• But this overlooks two important facts: The Supreme Court did not rule that diversity can never be a compelling state interest or that race can never be considered.
• Even race-conscious admissions aren’t completely off the table – if programs can pass the strict scrutiny test.

• But after the Harvard and UNC decision, even these programs will need to explore other ways to achieve diversity.
• MIT and Stanford Law are among the programs already using criteria such as income, ZIP code and civic engagement to maintain diversity.

More challenges ahead

• In contrast, some campus leaders and lawyers argue that the court’s decision should be limited to race-conscious admissions.
• They argue it should not include other programs where race might be used as a factor.

Tips for prospective students and their parents

• Students can also take the following steps: • Stay informed: Follow the news to find out whether changes in state laws or policies will affect scholarship opportunities.
• • Talk to financial aid administrators: Connect with advisers in the school’s financial aid office to learn how they interpret the Harvard/UNC decision.

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

• The online portal, HealthyCompetition.gov, allows the public to report potentially unfair and anticompetitive health care practices to the FTC and the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division.
• The launch of the new portal advances the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to lower health care and prescription drug costs and help create more competitive health care markets that are fairer to patients, providers, payers, and workers.
• That’s why we are working to tackle anticompetitive practices in the health care markets,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra.
• “The Biden-Harris Administration and HHS know it is our responsibility to stop monopolistic, anti-competitive practices that undermine the delivery of health care to Americans.