Currencies and culture: An amusing journey into the impacts of exchange rates on global creative industries

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of exchange rate changes on cultural services trade balances in China, Japan, the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Germany from 2006 to 2015. These six countries represent dominant players whose experiences reflect global impacts. Autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) models test for J‐curve effects. Cultural distance matrices combined with cluster analysis explore how cultural proximity influences trade structures. Results demonstrate a J‐curve effect in China contrasting with a reverse J‐curve in the United States. China and Japan form one cultural trade cluster distinct from a Western bloc of the United States, United Kingdom, and France. This signifies emerging economies have developed unique cultural trade models. The research enriches empirical evidence on exchange rate impacts for understudied cultural services trade. Introducing cultural distance provides a novel perspective and policy insights for emerging economies.